A table for two is where you'll run into your past
by InsomniacHighway
Summary: Senior year of high school, there was a Metro Pass and a promise of keeping in touch. But promises break and now seven years later, Doctor Quinn Fabray has a blind date with a certain actress she doesn't know the name of yet.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: Any character created by the Glee team belongs to them. All original characters are mine!

New story, I hope you enjoy. You've been good to me so far. -M

* * *

"_Everyone keeps talking about staying in touch and I want to make sure that we do_.", Quinn said as she stood before Rachel in the girls' bathroom, the same place they always seemed to end up for these kinds of conversations.

She had just handed the girl a Metro North Pass, identical to the one she had purchased for herself. It hadn't been on a whim, not really. She had been planning this since the day she woke up from a coma, three days after her crash and realized that Rachel Berry was someone she needed in her life.

And that she wasn't going to let college or moving to different states keep that from happening.

So after handing her the Metro Pass with a timid smile, she stepped back and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, hazel eyes looking down at the small brunette expectantly, waiting for a reaction.

Any kind of reaction because right now Rachel was just staring at her.

But then she saw her lips curve into a smile and next thing she knew, a pair of small arms were wrapping themselves around her midsection and Rachel's head was next to hers as soft thank yous were murmured into her ear.

After four years, they were finally going to start a real friendship.

Or so she thought.

* * *

_7 years later. _

Quinn groaned softly against her pillow as her alarm rang and she slowly turned her head to the side and cracked an eye open, huffing quietly as she stared at the big red numbers that read 5 AM, the dream she had just woken up from already forgotten from her mind, although it did kind of feel like Déjà Vu...

She had an hour before she had to be at the hospital for her shift.

After spending a year studying Drama at Yale, Quinn had realized that acting wasn't really for her after all. It was fun but deep inside of her, her need wasn't to entertain.

It was to help.

After all, when you almost die at 18 years old from a car crash that could have left you paralyzed for the rest of your life, you tend to feel the need to give back to the world.

So Quinn had enrolled in medical school and found her true passion: pediatrics.

She had worked with children day in and day out while interning at a Hospital during med school and seeing how brave and courageous they were even in the face of horrible things like cancer and diseases made her want to work with sick children for the rest of her life.

Which is why she was now Doctor Quinn Fabray, Pediatrician at the Lincoln Medical Center.

And Doctor Quinn Fabray was going to be late if she didn't get her ass out of bed, but she was kind of in a daze because she could have sworn her dream was permeated by a familiar face, familiar eyes... She just couldn't remember who.

Sighing softly to herself, she finally slipped out of bed, tugging at her old Yale t-shirt as she picked up her black rimmed glasses from her nightstand and slipped them on, running a hand through her tangled blonde locks.

She had let them grow out again after college. The kids liked it. They said she had princess hair and that always made her smile, even on the worst of days.

Yawning softly, she padded out of her room to the kitchen and turned on the coffee pot, attempting to be as quiet as possible because her roommate was still sleeping.

Yes, roommate.

Quinn was single and practically spent her entire days at the hospital. She could also afford a place to herself.

But she liked the company when she was actually home.

So she had met Kate through Craigslist and they had instantly clicked. The tall redhead was a dancer, who also worked a lot.

But she was nice and tidy and didn't bring a bunch of guys home at all hours of the night while Quinn was trying to sleep.

So she was wonderful in Quinn's book (even though she was always trying to set her up on blind dates, which she politely refused.)

A quick shower, a granola bar and a clean pair of blue scrubs later, Quinn was pouring coffee into her travel mug while hastily attempting to pull her hair back into a loose ponytail (her days of tight high ponies were long gone).

It was 5h47 AM and she was about to grab her jacket and keys when she heard a quiet yawn coming from behind her and turned around to find her roommate standing there in a pair of boxer shorts, a t-shirt that was a few sizes too large and her hair in a messy bun.

"_Morning,Q_." Kate said sleepily as she rubbed at her eyes and moved past her to pour herself the rest of the coffee Quinn had made into her favorite jumbo Hello Kitty mug.

"_Uh... Morning_?" Quinn said slowly as she looked at the girl, then looked at the time and then back at her, quirking a brow curiously. She rarely saw Kate before she left for work. Hell, the girl usually slept in until at least 11 am before heading down to the dance studio for the rest of the day.

So the fact that she was in the kitchen before 6 am was surprising, to say the least.

"_You're never up when I'm heading out. What's the occasion_?",Quinn chuckled as she headed for the door when she realized that she had five minutes to get down to the parking garage, get in her car and leave for work. (Thankfully the hospital was only a few blocks away.)

She opened the door and was about to step out when Kate finally turned to her, coffee in hand and a wide grin on her face as she looked over at the curious blonde.

"_Oh nothing_..." she said innocently, biting her lip. "_I just wanted to remind you about tonight. Don't forget, Fabray. Bistro 61. You have to be there for 7 o'clock and you can't get out_ _of it this time. I mean_ _it_.", she said seriously as she stared at her.

Quinn paused in the doorway and let out a heavy sigh.

She had hoped that the redhead had forgotten.

But two days earlier, while they were chatting over a few glasses of wine, Quinn had finally agreed.

To one of Kate's damn blind date ideas.

Great.

She rolled her eyes and looked at her roommate over her shoulder. "_I'll see if I can make it_.",she said simply before closing the door behind her.

As she walked down the hall towards the elevator, she heard a voice coming from her own apartment. "_You can't stay single forever, Quinn!_", her roommate yelled out.

But she ignored her because it was 5h57 AM and she was going to be late for work if she didn't hurry her ass up.

* * *

Quinn had spent the morning with one of her favorite patients, a five year old girl named Ava who had leukemia. The blonde had been watching her suffer from it for over a year now, but the little girl was always so optimistic and positive that it made Quinn want to work three times as hard to try and make her better.

And she was going to do it, she knew it. She didn't know how soon it would be, but she was prepared to do anything to save that little girl's life.

Because all those kids were _her_ life, and she would save them all if it was possible.

Everyone said she was going to work herself into some kind of burn out but she just told them that they didn't understand.

Her job made her happy. She didn't have anyone else. She was alone.

So it was all worth it if it meant having a bunch of amazing kids see her as a superhero.

Minus the cape, of course. (Although one little boy had insisted she dress up as Superwoman the previous Halloween, which she gladly did.)

It was just past 2 o'clock and she was finally able to sit down in her office for lunch. Granted, she only had about twenty minutes before she had to go meet her next patient. An eight year old boy named Luke, a sweet little third grader who had just been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

She was picking at the salad she had purchased from the hospital cafeteria when her mind began to wander.

First, she thought about the dream she had had just before her alarm went off that morning. She couldn't remember it and it was driving her crazy. She just knew it had been about something that had already happened. And she knew those eyes... She just couldn't place them.

"_Whose eyes look like melted chocolate_?", she wondered out loud as she popped a cherry tomato into her mouth and chewed.

She finally concluded that the dream was all part of her imagination playing a trick on her. She had probably dreamed of nothing.

Or darkness.

That seemed to be a recurring theme in her dreams nowadays.

She blamed it on exhaustion.

She then remembered what Kate had said that morning before she left.

_Bistro 61. You have to be there for 7 o'clock and you can't get out of it this time. _

She sighed heavily and slumped back in her chair, rubbing the back of her neck. She had completely forgotten about that, since her busy morning had pushed it out of her head.

"_Fuck_", she groaned, slightly annoyed at herself.

At least once a month for the past nine months, Kate had persistently tried to set her up on a blind date with a plethora of people. Dancers, lawyers, an accountant or two. Even a mortician. (Creepy)

But Quinn had always responded with a very firm no.

She had told her time and time again that she didn't want a relationship. She was too busy with work, and work came before everything.

But Kate wasn't having any of it. Quinn needed _someone. _Sure the blonde loved her job but she knew that outside of that, she wasn't completely happy, even if the woman denied it.

So she'd keep asking.

Finally one night, Quinn had finally given in and said yes.

Mainly because she wanted to shut her up.

Mostly because of the four glasses of wine she had consumed after a particularly grueling shift at the hospital.

Now there was no getting out of it, or else Kate would be pissed. And a pissed off Kate was actually kind of frightening.

But Quinn was scared and she didn't want to admit it.

The last relationship she had that lasted more than five months had been with Puck back in college, and well... she knew that wasn't going to last.

They had gotten back together because she thought that they made sense together. After all, she had lost her virginity to him and he had claimed to have always loved her. He was the father of the child she had given up at age sixteen. He was a good guy, he had his life together.

It last about a year, until...

* * *

_Flashback_

"You're kidding, right...?",he said as he sat on the edge of her bed in her dorm room at Yale, looking handsome as ever in his uniform, but with his brow knit in confusion.

Quinn had huffed softly, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked down at him with a frown that said she was completely serious. "_No, Puck. I'm not kidding. I_ _just... I don't know. It just...It just happened. I mean, I've always had a feeling but I just ignored it because you know my parents would have killed me if they found out and then I thought I_ _was normal because, well.. I liked being with you.",_she began to ramble_. "But then I started spending time with Julie and every time she came over to study, she was alw_ays _sitting so close and it made made heart beat like crazy. I knew I had been lying to myself. Then we kissed and.. Fuck, Puck. I'm sorry._",she said as her eyes began to well up.

She had then felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist as he pulled her against his broad chest and she sighed as she breathed in his cologne. She had bought him that for Christmas. "_So you're gay_?",her asked quietly as he stroked her hair.

She nodded slowly, sniffling as she tried not to get his uniform wet.

He let out a deep sigh because he was obviously heartbroken. He loved Quinn, ever since that night back in his room in Sophomore year. He loved her. But he also wanted her to be happy and knew that he had to let her go now.

"_I'm always going to be here for you, Q. I promise. Thank you for telling me. You deserve to be happy and if it's with a chick instead of me, then that's cool with me_.",he said with that warm smile of his, hugging her tightly.

* * *

Her father hadn't spoken to her since and had tried to cut her off from receiving any of the money in her trust fund.

Her mother, in a surprising turn of events, had told her she loved her and had hired a lawyer to keep Russell from getting his way.

He didn't.

One divorce later, she now visited her mother every Christmas while her father now lived somewhere in Florida with his new thirty year old something girlfriend.

But since coming to terms with her sexuality, Quinn had only dated a handful of girls.

Her excuse had always been that she was busy. With med school, and now with being a full time doctor.

She didn't want to drag anybody into her busy lifestyle and make them miserable. That's what she was really afraid of. She was afraid of meeting someone and falling in love, only to have them leave her because her work. The hospital and the kids were her world.

But one date couldn't hurt, right?

She would dress up (she didn't really own anything apart from scrubs but she'd steal a dress from Kate if she had to), she'd have dinner and then hopefully be home early enough to watch Greys Anatomy.

There was only one problem.

She basically knew nothing about the girl Kate had set her up with.

All the redhead had told her was that she was some sort of actress she knew through a mutual friend. She didn't even tell her the girl's name! For all she knew, she could be some kind of female serial killer who lured her victims by pretending to be on a date with them.

(She might have watched a bit too much Criminal Minds as well.)

She was about to text Kate and ask her to give her more information on the girl when her pager beeped, signaling an emergency. She cursed softly, leaving her half eaten salad on her desk as she ran out of her office, the mystery actress and the date temporarily out of her mind, being replaced with the sound of a whaling child as she entered one of the rooms.

The rest of the day had her running around from room to room, from a ten year old who had just started her first round of chemo and couldn't stop vomiting, to a little boy who had an aggressive case of the chicken pox.

It was safe to say that when 5h30 rolled around, signaling the end of her shift, she was completely exhausted. Her hair had come loose from its ponytail and her stomach was growling loudly due to her barely eating lunch. There might also be a bit of vomit on her scrubs.

She was just about to sign out and leave the hospital because she had an hour and a half to get home and get ready before she had to be at the restaurant for the stupid blind date she had agreed to go on.

But just as she was grabbing her keys, a voice came over the hospital loudspeaker.

"_Doctor Fabray to room 307, please. Doctor Fabray, room 307_!"

Dropping her keys back onto her desk, she sighed heavily.

"_I wonder if this actress will have a problem with me being a little bit late._...",she hummed as she turned on her heels to walk back out of her office, a clipboard being thrusted into her hands as she headed to room 307.

This might take a while.

* * *

And there you have it. Little beginner chapter to see if you guys like it.

I've had this idea playing around in my head for a while now. The future holds a few things: a bit of drama, some romance... who knows?

Oh and a blind date between Doctor Fabray and our 'mystery actress' ;)

For those of you reading Strawberry Shampoo, new chapter will be up tomorrow :) Yes, i'm currently attempting to write two fics at once. Crazy.

As for this one, new chapter should be up by Monday! This is going to be a long one, so hope you enjoy.

Please be kind and review, it really helps me out! :)

xxx


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: All characters created by Glee belong to them! Original characters are mine.

* * *

It was already a horrible start to this whole blind date ordeal and it hadn't even technically started yet.

Just as she had been about to leave the hospital so she could go back to her place and change, she had been paged to one of her patient's room.

An eight year old boy named Thomas who had pneumonia was reacting badly to his prescribed antibiotics. They had been about to page the doctor who was coming in to take her place to handle it instead, but the little boy had insisted on having Quinn.

And as always, those kids came before everything else. Even dates. So she stayed, much to his delight.

By the time the antibiotics were flushed out of his system and he had a new prescription ready to be filled, it was already 6h45 pm.

_Crap. _

As if on cue, she felt her iPhone chime in the pocket of her lab coat and excused herself from the room where the little boy was now resting so she could pull out her phone.

It was a text message.

From Kate.

**Text**: Your ass better be at that Bistro at 7, Fabray. Don't forget. Or else I'll kick your sorry ass if you stand this girl up! –K

_*Ding*_

Another text.

**Text**: And she's smoking hot. Don't mess it up! –K

Quinn scoffed and rolled her eyes as she read both messages from her roommate and decided not to answer that as she slipped her phone back into her pocket.

Although that was possibly a bad idea, since Kate would just get annoyed and keep texting her until she answered.

She glanced at the clock by the nurses' station and cursed quietly, causing them all to look at her curiously.

"_Sorry, I'm just... late for something_.", she explained with an apologetic smile as she practically jogged to her office to retrieve her keys and her bag.

6h48.

Kate was going to murder her.

"_This is what she gets for trying to set me up on these kinds of things_." she grumbled to herself as she practically flew down the staircases to the Hospital employee parking garage.

Honestly, Kate should have known better.

Doctors and dates do not go together. She barely had a fixed schedule and most of the time, she stayed at the hospital for two or three hours more than she was supposed to.

She practically lived at the hospital. (Sometimes she slept in a small cot in her office if she stayed too late.)

No wonder she was single. She saw her patients more often than she would see her dates.

By the time she got in her car and had it started, it was 6h53 and she groaned loudly as she practically gunned it out of the parking lot and onto the street, trying to make it to her apartment as fast as she could without breaking any major traffic laws.

The last thing she needed was to get arrested and miss the date because her ass was in jail.

She had to change before going. She had to. Scrubs and a stethoscope decorated with stickers were definitely not material for a good first impression in a chic restaurant.

So she would definitely be late.

As she sped through a yellow light, she thought about cancelling but then the thought crossed her mind that this girl was probably on her way to the restaurant if not there already.

Waiting for her.

How much of an ass would she look like if she decided to cancel now?

Kate would definitely kick her ass then.

She made it back to her place in a record four minutes (without getting arrested) and had never been so happy to live four blocks away from the hospital as she was in that moment.

But three minutes to seven definitely wasn't enough time.

"_Fuck fuck fuck fuck_!" she repeated as she tried to take off her white hospital shoes and blue scrubs at the same time, all the while letting her hair down of its loose ponytail.

"_Please God, be on my side and let her be running late too. Make her break her heel on her way out the door for all I care. I just need ten minutes!_",she shouted up to the heavens as she ran directly to Kate's room because she had a better chance of finding a dress in there than in her sea of hospital scrubs and lab coats.

And the redhead wasn't home to yell at her. Which was a relief.

There was obviously no time for a shower, or even to freshen up so she grabbed the first dress she laid her eyes on along with a pair of black heels (those matched with everything) before scrambling back to her room, Kate's hairbrush between her teeth.

7h01.

_Shit._

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

Her friends thought she was crazy for going on so many blind dates.

But how else was she supposed to be sure that the person wasn't just going on a date with her because she was on the rise to fame?

So she went on blind dates, where the other person didn't know what her name was yet or how much money she had.

This way she knew that the other person was coming in with no ulterior motives whatsoever.

It was a foolproof plan.

There was only one... tiny problem.

All of the dates she had been on in the past year had been disasters.

Complete and utter disasters.

There wasn't one date that hadn't ended badly.

In fact, just three weeks ago she had been on a date where the person she was meeting had spilled a glass of red wine her lap, ruining her brand new dress and practically copping a feel as they attempted to wipe it off with one of the restaurant's cloth napkins.

Gross.

That date had promptly ended.

But a few wine stains had been the least of her problems.

For some reason, most of the people her friends had set her up with were completely wrong for her.

The men were obnoxious, arrogant, impolite and often rude.

And a lot of the women were self centered airheads that couldn't hold a conversation unless it was about shoes.

Yes. She dated both sexes. In high school, she had only dated boys and the same was to be said for the first few years at college.

Until one faithful night at a friend's 'classic movies' party where she had a bit too much to drink and ended up re-enacting a certain steamy scene from Gone With The Wind.

With a very attractive dark haired woman.

She enjoyed it enough that she decided that kissing girls wasn't something she'd mind doing more often.

She had always found women attractive, and maybe had a girl crush or two in the past. Mainly in high school...

But she had never put her sexuality to the test until that night.

So she was bisexual, or fluid as she liked to say. But neither the women nor the men she went on these dates with turned out to be anywhere near compatible with her.

She was beginning to lose hope.

This date was her last chance.

It was with a woman this time, and at first she had hesitated, because the last woman she had gone on a date with had been so incredibly dull that she had pondered the idea of faking food poisoning in order to get out of it, just twenty minutes in.

But the friend of a friend that had set her up had mentioned that the woman was a doctor.

A _real _doctor.

As in the type that wears scrubs and can tell you what disease you have and if you need to get your appendix out. Not the kind that made you lie on leather couches and asked you how you felt. About everything.

So certainly, she must have some brains to her... right?

And a doctor would be a nice change from the type of women she usually went out with.

Dancers, models, aspiring actresses and variants of the sort.

Maybe a date with a doctor would be the key to ending her streak of bad luck with blind dates.

So she had agreed, and when she got word that the woman had also said yes because apparently the friend had to check in with her first to make sure she was available (something about a busy schedule), she went out and bought a brand new dress.

The friend of a friend had booked the reservation for them and sent her the information with the name of the restaurant as well as the time she should be there at.

A few days later, she was stepping into Bistro 61 , dressed in a thigh length dark blue dress that hugged her curves in all the right places. She had splurged a little on the dress, she had to admit. But she figured that since she was considering this her last shot at blind dates, she would go all out.

Besides, the doctor sounded promising.

So she had also spent a bit extra on a new, shining pair of silver heels with a matching clutch.

So she liked to look presentable for a person she hadn't even met yet. Sue her.

It wasn't quite 7 o'clock yet so she quickly slipped into the restaurant's bathroom, just so she could look at herself in the mirror one last time. Her makeup was simple, her eyes and lips accentuated because she considered them her best facial features.

She had also spent the time curling her long dark locks before pinning them to the side so they were draped over one shoulder.

Her hair stylist and makeup artist that she used for her shows had insisted on doing her hair and makeup for the date, but she didn't want to look _too_ done up, so she had done it herself.

Besides, what kind of girl got her makeup done for a date? It would make her look a bit superficial.

By the time she had checked over her appearance to make sure everything was perfect, it was 6h59. So she applied one coat of clear lip gloss before making her way out of the bathroom and over to where the Maitre D was standing by his podium with the list of reservations.

He eyed her up and down, which caused a slight blush to appear on her cheeks before he cleared his throat and asked if she had a reservation, and if so, to state her name.

Since she didn't know the name of her blind date yet (the friend had said something about it being only fair since she wasn't revealing her own name before the date), she assumed that the reservation had been made under the friend's name.

"_Um...Kate_?" she tried as she looked up at him, watching as he hummed softly while reading down the list before stopping at a name.

"_Table for two_?",he asked her, looking up from the podium curiously. When she bit her lip and nodded shyly, her smiled and gestured to the nearby hostess. "_Bridget will take you to your table. I don't believe your... companion has arrived yet_."

She thanked him politely before following the short blonde towards the table, though she couldn't help but frown slightly. It was already 7 o'clock and yet her date hadn't arrived yet.

As the hostess led her to the table for two in the back of the bistro, next to a large window where there was a nice view of the nightlife, she began to worry.

What if she really was cursed on blind dates and this was just adding to the horrible string of disaster dates? Surely the girl would have made it here on time if she was planning on coming.

Oh god, she had been stood up. (It wouldn't be the first time. That's how date number four had ended.)

_Relax. She's probably just running late. Breathe. _

_There was probably traffic driving over here. _

_Eat a bread roll or something. _

With a heavy sigh, she listened to her inner voice's reassurances and decided to order herself a glass of white wine while she waited. Her date would certainly be here any moment now.

She was panicking for nothing. It must be the nerves.

"_This is going to be lucky date number 13_.",she told herself, trying to sound somewhat cheerful.

Yes. She had been on thirteen dates in the past year and all of them had made her rethink dating altogether.

Some had been so disastrous that she had even considered getting a cat and resigning from the dating game.

"_Come on, Doctor... Any time now_." she sighed softly as she sipped on her glass of wine, looking around the restaurant anxiously, resisting the urge to glare at the patrons who looked at her sympathetically, thinking she might have been stood up.

Finally, she pulled out her phone to look at the time.

7h10.

Doctor or not, she would give this girl another five minutes.

And then she was out.

Punctuality had been a value of hers since high school.

* * *

7h06.

That was the time flashing on her bedside table as she quickly applied some lipstick and mascara, wanting to look at least somewhat presentable.

She had pulled on the dress, which was a nice light green color, which happened to bring out the hazel in her eyes.

She took a brief moment to thank god that the dress actually fit her. She ran the hairbrush through her loose blonde locks a few times, deciding to let them down so they cascaded over her shoulders.

She had the common sense to take off her socks before pulling on the black heels, grabbing her keys and purse before she ran out the door, slamming it behind her.

She nearly broke her neck while trying to get down the stairs.

Quinn didn't wear heels often. In fact, the last time she had was at a wedding.

Two years ago.

Once outside, she knew she couldn't take her car because the chances of getting parking at the bistro were slim to none.

So she swung her hand into the air and waved it to hail a cab, sighing in relief when one halted to a stop directly in front of her.

She practically threw herself in.

7h14.

That's what time it was when she threw a wad of cash at the driver and quickly thanked him before scrambling out of the car and across the street, where Bistro 61 was located, soft jazz music filtering out of the restaurant.

She realized she still had her lanyard with her hospital ID draped around her neck and widened her eyes in horror, yanking it off as she hurriedly walked into the restaurant while stuffing it into her purse frantically.

"_I should not be allowed to go on dates._" she muttered to herself, shaking her head.

She heard a light chuckle and looked up to see the Maitre D eyeing her curiously. "_Let me guess. Table for two, under the name Kate_?" he asked.

She bit her lip and nodded slowly, smoothing down her dress. "_Um, how do I look_?" she asked shyly.

"_Marvelous. But she's been waiting for the past fifteen minutes, so if I were you, I'd get my ass back there._",he said as he pointed behind him. "_Just go. It's the last table by the window_."

She nodded quickly, flashing him a grateful smile and reminding herself to give him a nice tip later before walking briskly towards the back of the restaurant. (She would have ran, but...people were looking.)

As she got to the last table,she frowned slightly because the brunette that was sitting there was getting up, as if she was about to leave.

She didn't blame her. She was fifteen minutes later, after all.

"_I'm so sorry I'm late. There was an emergency at the hospital and I-_..."

She stopped in her tracks when the girl looked up at her and they locked eyes.

It felt like the whole world had just spun to a stop, her brain forgetting how to formulate words or proper thoughts.

But those eyes.

Those eyes were the same eyes she had seen in her dream just before her alarm had woken her up that morning.

She couldn't remember them clearly because she hadn't seen them in nearly seven years.

But she knew who they belonged to now.

And they were staring right at her, with barely concealed shock.

"_Rachel_..."

* * *

xxx

So did you guys figure out yet that I kind of enjoy cliffhangers? ;)

Hope you enjoyed.

What do you think will happen next?

Please leave a review!

New chapter up soon!

xxx


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: Glee characters belong to the creators, original characters are mine.

* * *

At 7h16 pm.

In a small, chic Bistro.

In the middle of a busy street.

On the island of Manhattan.

Time seemed to be standing still for Doctor Quinn Fabray.

The soft jazz music entertaining the restaurant's guests seemed to fade into the background.

The sounds of glasses clinking and utensils scraping against china plates died down.

The chatter stopped.

Everything froze.

Hazel orbs staring into brown.

Brown locking onto hazel.

It had been nearly seven years.

But Quinn Fabray and Rachel Berry were now meeting again.

Under the most surprising circumstances.

A date.

Suddenly, it was like the restaurant disappeared altogether and they were back in high school, in the girls' bathroom where they had shared many memories. Good and bad.

"_Everyone keeps talking about staying in touch...and I want to make sure that we do."_

She had said that, right before handing Rachel a Metro Pass.

It was the same thing that had happened in her dream. That's why she had woken up with a sense of déjà vu.

She had been dreaming about Rachel.

She swallowed thickly, remembering the warm hug, Rachel's sweet perfume and the promise of staying in touch after graduation.

And they did.

For a while.

They exchanged texts when they could, and a few emails here and there.

They even visited each other once or twice.

But after barely a year... It all stopped.

They drifted apart.

Or well, Quinn stopped answering.

She distanced herself from the small brunette. Not because she didn't want her in her life, no.

It was quite the opposite. She had realized back then that perhaps she wanted Rachel in her life just a bit too much and hadn't been quite ready to admit to herself why that was.

She hadn't been at that stage yet in her self-discovery and journey towards acceptance and self-love.

So she created space between them in order to allow herself time to think and figure things out.

But by the time everything came to light, Rachel had stopped emailing her.

The brunette had stopped trying to contact her after Quinn had cut her off.

And then she had been off to bigger and better things.

Like Broadway and...boyfriends.

And now here they were, seven years later.

She could feel all those buried emotions rushing back until it felt like she was suffocating in them, her eyes growing wide in panic.

"_Quinn...?"_ She heard a soft voice enter her realm of thoughts and realized she had been staring in shock for the past two minutes.

She blinked owlishly and then suddenly everything began to move again, the various sounds floating around the bistro coming back to her and the scene from high school faded back into her memory.

Rachel was here. _In front of her._

Holy crap.

Hazel hues couldn't help but rake over the small woman's form.

The years had certainly been good to Rachel Berry.

She had always been skinny, but now she looked somewhat slimmer somehow. Like she had lost the remainder of her baby fat. It showed in her facial features.

She had grown nicely into her curves. A real woman now.

Where she was once cute and pretty, she was now..._sexy._

Quinn gulped. And that dress...

Damn.

"_Quinn_!" The voice said a bit more firmly this time and the blonde realized she hadn't said anything else since uttering the woman's name in complete shock just a few moments ago.

She probably looked like an idiot, just standing there. Staring.

She finally allowed herself to once again look into the chocolate pools that were Rachel Berry's eyes, the eyes that had haunted her dreams and her memory throughout the day.

She took a deep breath, trying to collect herself and allowed her lips to curl into a small, slightly nervous smile.

"_Rachel...",_ she began softly, noticing how the brunette was staring at her like she didn't quite believe that the blonde was there.

That would make two of them.

Maybe this was all an illusion. Or she had fallen asleep from exhaustion after her shift and this was all a dream. Her real date was somewhere waiting for her to show up.

But something told her that wasn't the case. This was quite real.

"_This is quite... unexpected_." she said lamely, frowning at herself for being unable to formulate a better opening line than that. But who could blame her? The last person she had expected to be set up on a date with was Rachel freaking Berry of all people!

She felt her cheeks heat up as she struggled for words while self consciously smoothing down the front of her dress, praying for Rachel to say something. Anything that would make things less awkward.

But instead, a waiter appeared beside them with a wide smile.

"_Can I offer you ladies anything to drink?",_he asked cheerfully.

She briefly wondered if the restaurant served vodka. Or anything stronger.

* * *

_This couldn't possibly be real, _Rachel thought.

It had to be a dream.

When her date still hadn't shown up at 7h15, she had resigned to the fact that maybe she really was cursed and that blind dates were just a recipe for disaster.

So she had stood up with a deep sigh, trying to pretend like she didn't notice the people around her staring at her with a pitying expression.

Had they never seen someone being stood up before!?

She huffed softly and smoothed out her dress, but just as she was about to grab her purse and leave, she heard a voice.

A voice that was all too familiar, but that in recent years, she had only heard in dreams.

Or in memories she replayed in her head.

Then she looked up and her breath caught in her throat, brown eyes widening in shock as she stared at the girl who had disappeared from her life all those years ago without an explanation.

Quinn Fabray.

All of a sudden, memories from the last times they had seen each other came flooding back into her mind.

The Metro Pass, the hugs she didn't need to ask permission for to receive, the laughs, the few times they visited each other at their respective colleges.

And then... nothing.

Quinn had seemed to fall off the face of the earth. She didn't answer her emails anymore, or her text messages.

The friendship she had been promised was taken away from her and she had been crushed.

She had always cared more for Quinn that she had let on, and the blonde had just walked out of her life.

So Rachel eventually moved on with hers and stopped answering.

And now she was here. Standing in front of her. In the flesh.

Quinn seemed to be lost in thought, most likely under the same shock and disbelief that she was in. The blonde kept staring at her, like she believed she was dreaming.

She took the moment to look at her.

_Really_ look at her.

Quinn looked a bit flustered, most likely because she had been rushing to get here. She remembered her saying something about her shift ending late at work before the awkward staring contest started.

But she was still as breathtaking as ever in that light green dress that matched her eyes.

Just like her corsage for Junior Prom. She had picked it out but let Finn take the credit since he was dating her at the time.

A secret she had never told the blonde.

Finn had told her that the look on her face had been incredible.

Anyway. Quinn looked stunning.

Even more so that she had remembered, and just looking at her made her feel weak in the knees and her heart swell up.

She tried calling the blonde's name a couple of times to get her attention, since Quinn was so clearly lost in thought, as if she was in a complete different place.

When the blonde finally snapped out of it and looked at her, her response made her raise a brow when she finally remembered what this was.

_A date_.

Yes, it was quite unexpected.

She had been set up on a date with Quinn Fabray. The girl who had stopped talking to her seven years ago after promising that they'd finally be friends.

A waiter appeared beside them and she just frowned, remembering how upset she was at Quinn for just cutting her off without an explanation.

Before Quinn could say anything, she took a step to the side, away from the table.

"_Actually, I should just go.", _she said as she looked away from the blonde, and the waiter who was slowly backing away upon realization that he shouldn't have intruded.

* * *

Quinn had been about to ask the waiter what kind of alcohol they served until Rachel spoke and she found herself frowning deeply, looking back at the girl with a puzzled expression.

She wanted to leave?

"_Wait, what? No, you don't have to go...",_she said quickly, side-stepping from the table as well so she could block her path. She hadn't seen Rachel in seven years, she wasn't about to let her walk away now when they finally had the chance to reconnect.

Rachel simply scoffed and rolled her eyes at her, looking at her feet as she crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head. "_Quinn, do you realize what this is_?", she asked the girl, frowning deeply. "_It's a date. We've been set up on a date. Do you know how weird that is!?"_

"_It's not weird_...", the blonde lied, rubbing the back of her neck as a nervous habit.

Another scoff.

"_Out of all the people in New York City, I got set up with you. It is weird. I didn't even know you liked women Quinn!_", the brunette said in a tone that was probably a bit louder than necessary.

Quinn felt her cheeks turn a deep shade of red at that as she ducked her head shyly. Of course Rachel didn't know. They were already out of each other's lives by the time she came to terms with everything.

"_Rachel, I-..."_

"_Not to mention the fact that you walked out of my life seven years ago without so much as a legitimate explanation_! _Did you think I would forget about that? What happened to 'I want to make sure we keep in touch'? Did that mean nothing to you!?", _Rachel said, once again in a loud tone.

Quinn swallowed thickly and looked around the restaurant. Rachel was causing a bit of a scene and people were staring at them.

She was overwhelmed. She never thought that of all people, she would run into Rachel after all this time and now she felt like she was put on the spot. Because how on Earth was she supposed to explain to the girl that she left because she liked her too much?

How messed up was that?

If she had known that she would be seeing Rachel tonight, she would have spent at least two hours in front of the mirror, rehearsing what she was going to say to the brunette.

That and she would have had a major anxiety attack.

But she would have been ready.

Now she just stared at the brunette, at a loss for words.

"_Every blind date that I've been on in the past year has been a complete disaster so I'm going to leave before this turns into the worst one yet. Clearly you didn't expect to see me tonight. And seeing as you stopped answering my emails seven years ago, I'm probably the last person you want to see tonight. So I'll save you the trouble and just leave. Have a nice life, Quinn. We can pretend this never happen.", _the girl said in a bitter tone as she walked around her.

Quinn felt a pang of guilt in her heart at Rachel's words and sighed deeply. She knew that in the brunette's eyes, she was probably the worst person in the world for ruining their already tentative friendship all those years ago.

She knew she had to explain.

She had to fix things between them and make them better.

Starting by trying to make Rachel's stay.

This was probably her only chance to redeem herself for the mistake she made in the past, and if she let Rachel walk away now, who knew how long it would be before they would speak again.

Another seven years? Maybe longer?

She couldn't let that happen.

"_Rachel, wait.",_ she said as she reached out, her hand gently curling around the woman's bicep. Not to hurt her, just to keep her in place so she wouldn't walk out of her life forever.

She watched as Rachel stopped in her tracks, her brows creasing into a frown as she looked up at the blonde expectantly.

Quinn sighed softly and slowly released her arm, taking a step back.

"_Look...I know you probably hate me right now and you have every reason to do so. I know what I promised you, and I know I didn't come through on that. I shouldn't have left and I did.. and it's not because I wanted to_.", she mumbled quietly, noticing the look of confusion on Rachel's face.

"_I made the choice I made because back then, I thought it would be for the best.",_she said softly, meeting those haunting eyes for the third time that night as she swallowed hard, wincing when her words only deepened Rachel's frown.

This was already going badly.

"_You thought that walking out on our friendship was for the best? What the hell does that mean, Quinn? Was I that bad of a friend to you? Was me caring about you and telling you that you mean the world to me not enough_?" Rachel snapped while Quinn visibly cringed, Rachel's words deepening her already present guilt.

Quinn stepped closer and hesitantly reached out, gently squeezing Rachel's hand, although as soon as the brunette flinched, she released it, swallowing hard.

"_I know that nothing I say or do right now is going to make up for the last seven years, Rachel._", she murmured softly, ducking her head to hold her gaze.

"_But a lot has changed. I've changed. I owe it to you to try and explain why I left. You deserve it. It'll be hard, but I'll try."_ she said, watching Rachel's hesitation. She knew that the brunette was angry with her, but this was her only chance.

"_I want to know what the great Rachel Berry has been up to these past seven years_.", she then added quietly.

Rachel scoffed and took a step back from her, rolling her eyes.

"_You probably don't even care, Quinn. If you did, you had seven years to return one of my calls. But you didn't, and now it's too late_.", she said harshly.

Quinn felt like she was going to cry.

She obviously deserved all of this, but it didn't make it hurt any less. She wanted to mend things, but Rachel wasn't having any of it.

And at any moment, she was going to leave the Bistro with Quinn standing there, like the woman with the mesmerizing brown eyes was nothing but a dream again.

Knowing very well that Rachel might slap her hand away, she reached up and gently put a hand on a tanned cheek, feeling a burst of electricity running through her as she touched the warm skin, breathing in deeply as she looked at the girl with pleading eyes.

"_I know you hate me. But just let me buy you dinner, okay? One dinner. That's all I'm asking for. I'll tell you everything. Why I left, why I haven't called and what I've been doing all these years. I'll do my best to explain and then you can leave if you want to and never talk to me again, just... give me an hour. That's all I ask, Rach._",she begged quietly, holding her breath for the brunette's response.

* * *

Part of Rachel was telling her to leave. That part was the one that was still filled with anger and hurt because of what Quinn did to their friendship. That part of her was telling her to walk out without looking back and forget this ever happened before swearing off blind dates altogether.

The other part, the bigger part... The part that loved and cared for Quinn and missed her terribly... That part told her to stay. And listen to what Quinn had to say.

Even though she hadn't forgiven the blonde for leaving, she still felt like she deserved an explanation. And she had to admit that she was curious to know what became of Quinn Fabray after high school.

So after a moment's hesitation and a deep sigh, she resisted the urge to just lean into the blonde's touch and instead pulled away. But she did not leave.

She moved back over to the small, candlelit table for two and slowly sat down, a silent answer to tell Quinn she was going to stay and hear her out.

* * *

Quinn seemed to deflate as she sighed in relief, watching Rachel take a seat at their table.

The woman wasn't going to leave, not yet.

But then Quinn was faced with the realization that she now had to come up with the proper way to explain the past seven years in one hour, over dinner in a fancy restaurant.

_Fuck. _

She felt her heart begin to beat rapidly and her palms sweat nervously, trying to ignore the way Rachel was looking at her expectantly, like she was supposed to begin right then and there.

She noticed that the waiter was once again tentatively approaching their table and she licked her dry lips, turning towards him. "_Get us a bottle of your nicest wine.",_ she said quickly, handing him her credit card before turning to Rachel.

_"Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back. Promise_.",she rushed out before turning on her heel.

And with that, she made a bee-line straight for the bathroom.

Leaving Rachel Berry once again waiting alone at a table for two while she went to give herself what she desperately needed.

A peptalk.

Wait, scratch that.

She had a better idea.

The blonde Doctor rifled through her purse until she found her iPhone and quickly unlocked it.

She ignored the five texts and two missed calls from Kate and hurriedly scrolled through her contacts until she found the number she was looking for and called it, holding the phone to her ear as she paced around the empty bathroom.

She held her breath as it rang, closing her eyes before stopping in the middle of the bathroom when the voice on the other line finally answered.

"_Santana? It's me. I really need your help."_

* * *

xxx

I'm posting this way, waaay earlier than I had intended to, so.

Hope you guys enjoyed it.

Next chapter: Quinn seeks help from Santana and attempts to explain to Rachel why they haven't spoken in seven years.

Please review, I've been getting lots of nice comments on this story. :)

xxx


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: All original Glee characters belong to the creators. Other characters are mine.

Sooo. I was supposed to post this on Friday evening. But my computer was being stupid and then I had work all weekend.

Forgive me, lovelies. x

* * *

On the other side of Manhattan, completely unaware of the events that were going down in a quaint little Bistro miles from her apartment, Santana Lopez was coming home from a long day at work.

After high school, she had gone to college in Kentucky for barely a year before she dropped out, realizing that she couldn't possibly be a cheerleader forever.

But the thing was, she had no idea what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

She had bounced around between a few minimum wage jobs for a year or so, even visiting Lima way more often than she should have before she had finally found her calling.

Soon after her wedding to the girl of her dreams and best friend, Santana had busted her ass to get into Columbia and now, seven years later, she was at the top of her game with an impressive degree under her belt.

Santana Lopez was the best lawyer this side of Manhattan.

She had recently made partner at the law firm she had landed a job at straight out of school and now represented clients ranging from well known celebrities to her wife's own dance studio.

She was successful, happily married and she loved her job.

Life was definitely good.

That evening,she had barely walked in the door when her phone began to ring in the pocket of her blazer.

She sighed softly, figuring that it would be a client or her boss.

She was never really off the clock and often had to keep working on cases late into the night.

But when she pulled out her phone and saw the name on the caller idea, her brows rose in utter surprise.

_Quinn Fabray. _

The name was flashing repeatedly on her phone, along with an old picture of the blonde, but she just stared at it.

She and Quinn hadn't exactly lost touch during the first couple of years after high school.

They were just both incredibly busy. Emphasis on the busy.

Quinn had med school, and she spent all of her time pursuing her law degree.

They didn't have time for their usual best friend activities, or to actually see each other for that matter.

But they did manage to call each other every couple of months to catch up. They had promised each other that.

But this call however, had come earlier than she had expected.

She finally answered.

On the fourth ring.

"Santana? It's me. I really need your help.", said the slightly panicked voice on the other line.

Santana paused and rose a brow. She rarely heard Quinn use that tone, which is why she knew that something must really be wrong.

Nowadays the blonde was always cool and collected, despite how demanding her job was.

And now she sounded like she was on the verge of a panic attack.

She was instantly worried about her old best friend and quickly closed the door behind her, frowning deeply as she sat down on her couch, immediately thinking that the worst had happened.

"What's wrong? Are you in trouble? God Fabray, did you get your ass thrown in jail or something? Because it's bad enough I had to use my lawyer powers to bail out-"

"I'm on a blind date with Rachel.", the voice quickly interrupted. "Berry.",she added, her voice low and slightly echoed, like she was hiding in a bathroom.

And knowing Quinn, she was _definitely_ hiding in a bathroom.

Santana paused, her eyes widening comically in surprise.

There was a long moment of total silence where all she could hear was Quinn practically hyperventilating on the end of the line.

Or each of the women's faces when they saw each other.

And then the Latina burst out laughing.

And she laughed hard.

So hard that she actually had trouble breathing for a moment as she doubled over on the couch, clutching the phone with both hands.

Because this was definitely the most hilarious thing she had heard all week.

All year, maybe.

She laughed until the complete silence on the other end made her stop mid guffaw, her brows rising in surprise.

"Shit, you're serious, aren't you...?",she asked in shock, her eyes growing wide again.

Yes, they may have drifted apart after high school, but Santana still knew everything when it came to what she had named 'The Berry-Fabray Case'.

She knew why Quinn had stopped talking to Rachel during their college years.

She knew how badly Rachel had reacted when the blonde had disappeared from her life, how hurt she had been.

And she knew that if Quinn was somehow on a date with Rachel Berry for some fucked up reason, that it had the potential to end up as the year's biggest disaster.

She heard Quinn breathing heavily and sighed as she rubbed her forehead.

"Fuck. Okay. How the hell did this happen, Q? You haven't talked to her or even seen her in-..."

"Seven years.",the blonde finished quietly,her voice barely above a murmur.

"Seven years...Fuck,Q."

It had really been a long time.

She heard Quinn breathe out a sigh and quirked a brow as she waited to hear how on Earth she had gotten herself into something like this.

"Remember my roommate?", Quinn asked after a moment.

"Kate? The hot redhead you showed me pics of? What does she have to do with you going on a date with Berry?"

Another sigh, longer this time.

"She convinced me to go on a stupid blind date because according to her, I must be miserable since all I do is work and I've been single for the past couple of years.",she muttered.

"Well... She's not exactly wrong. You do work a lot, Q. And I don't remember that last time you told me you had a date with someone other than a bottle of wine and your Netflix account. But let me guess, that blind date turned out to be Rachel and you had no idea?"

"Yes.", she whined softly. "She just told me that it was an actress. She didn't tell me her name. This is New York City. How was I supposed to know that out of the thousands of actresses, I'd get set up with Rachel out of all people!?

Santana had to stifle a chuckle as she shook her head.

"Life's always had a sense a humor when it came to you,Quinn. Now I bet you're freaking the fuck out because she probably wants to know where the hell you've been the past seven years?"

"That's kind of why I called you, San. I know we only talk every couple of months, but..."

"You want me to tell you what the hell you need to do so this 'date' of yours doesn't end in complete disaster with Rachel hating you even more?"

There was a long pause on the end of the line.

A sharp intake of breath.

Santana could practically hear Quinn swallow thickly.

"She hates me...?",came the blonde's voice, hurt and small after a moment.

Now it was Santana's turn to sigh as she ran a hand through her hair, shaking her head slightly.

"Look, Q... She doesn't hate you per se. It's just that...You hurt her a lot by just cutting her out of your life because you were scared of your feelings or whatever it is you were trying to deal with back then. That girl looked up to you. She basically thought you were the greatest person to walk this Earth. She cared about you more than she had ever admitted. Now she sees you seven years later and I can bet you anything that all that pain of losing someone she cared about is coming back."

Another pause, as if Quinn was collecting her thoughts after hearing how much she had actually hurt the brunette.

"Do I tell her the truth, San?",the blonde asked quietly before clearing her throat.

"Do I tell Rachel that I stopped answering her calls and her emails because I was terrified of the things that I was feeling when I was near her? Do I tell her that I never came back after I had figured everything out because she had a boyfriend at the time and I was crushed? Do I tell her that despite all of that I never stopped thinking about her these past seven years?"

Santana bit her lip as she listened to the blonde, hearing how her voice wavered lightly at every second word, like she was about to have a panic attack.

Or worse, cry.

She knew that Quinn wasn't a jerk. That pushing Rachel out of her life had been hard on her as well. But back then, Quinn thought it had been for the best.

Over the years, the Latina had to constantly lie to Rachel and pretend that she wasn't actually in contact with the blonde, just so she could spare her feelings.

She had to watch as Rachel worried herself crazy and wrote countless emails to Quinn, only to have them remain unanswered.

She had to carry Quinn's secrets with her over the years as well as Rachel's pain.

She was always caught between the two women, both of whom harboring something deep for the other without the other one knowing or fully understanding what it was.

And now seven years had passed and Quinn finally had the chance to come clean?

"Of course you're going to tell her the truth, Q.",she finally answered after a moment's thought.

"You're going to go to her and you're going to tell her everything. You're going to come clean and tell her why you hurt her and why you left. I know it's tough and that you've been carrying this for a long time, but... You've always believed in fate, Q. Maybe tonight's your chance to fix what went wrong seven years ago."

The lawyer could hear the blonde take a deep breath, and even if she couldn't see her, she knew that Quinn knew she was right. That going back out there and coming clean was the only way to make things right between her and Rachel. Finally.

As opposed to doing what Fabrays do best and running the hell away from her problems without looking back.

"Okay.",she finally said after a few seconds of deep, calming breaths. "I'm going to tell her. And if she hates me for it, then at least I won't be hiding anything from her anymore. Maybe you're right. Maybe this is fate.",she whispered softly.

Santana smiled slightly before looking up as her front door opened and her wife walked in, arms full of groceries.

"You're doing the right thing, Q.",she said as she stood up, holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder as she walked over to Brittany, taking the bags out of her hands.

On the other end of the line, Quinn let out a soft sigh.

"Thanks. I mean...I'm still freaking out, but. I just needed some insight and you were the only person I could think of."

"You know i'm always here to help, Q. Even if we're not as close. Let me know how it goes, okay? Don't mess it up with her this time. Oh, and Q?"

"Yeah?",the blonde said softly.

"Tell her the truth but leave out the part about me knowing where you were all these years. You're already going to hurt her enough tonight. She doesn't need to know that too. Goodluck."

_Click._

* * *

Standing in the middle of the spotless bathroom, in the small bistro, Quinn listened to the dial tone as Santana hung up.

The sound was ringing in her head.

Tell her the truth. The whole truth.

That was Santana's advice.

And as much as she had wished that the woman might have told her something along the lines of 'lie your ass off' instead, she knew that she was right.

Seven years was far too long to keep up this charade and if she wanted any sort of chance at fixing things with Rachel, she had to start by being honest.

Because if their interaction at the table was anything to go by, Rachel was clearly upset with her.

And she had every reason to be.

Quinn was just grateful that she had been able to convince the brunette to stay, after promising her that she would explain everything to her.

But seeing Rachel's frown, the hurt and pain in her beautiful chocolate colored eyes as well as the bitter tone in which she spoke to her, the truth seemed to be the most terrifying thing at the moment.

Which is why she had called Santana, so that the Latina could repeat to her what she already knew was the only solution. She had just needed a bit of reinforcement.

Sighing heavily, the blonde looked down at her phone and bit her lip.

She had left Rachel waiting long enough, and she feared that if she lingered in the bathroom any longer, the brunette would get fed up and leave.

And that couldn't happen. Because if Rachel left, she might never have a chance to make things right with her.

So she took a brief moment to turn towards the large mirror that was fixed to the wall and smoothed down her dress as she ran a hand through her long hair and looked herself over in the reflective glass.

Even though Rachel probably didn't consider this a date anymore, she still wanted to look nice for her.

She always wanted to impress the brunette. Even when they were in high school, and the brief time they had spent together in college before everything fell apart.

She had once spent an hour getting ready for twenty minutes of Skype with the woman.

She gave her reflection an encouraging smile before taking a deep breath and walking out of the bathroom, passing the Maitre D who was looking at her with a slight frown.

"I don't know what you did, blondie. But you better go fix it now because she looks like she's about five seconds from walking out of here and leaving you hanging.",he warned.

Quinn cursed softly and nearly tripped over herself to get to their table.

* * *

_Ten minutes. _

That's how long Quinn's 'be right back' was.

And every minute that ticked on, Rachel was left wondering if the blonde had simply taken off.

If she had chickened out.

If the promise of an explanation and the plea for her to stay and allow her an hour of her time was just a ploy so she could then escape and leave her sitting at a table for two, looking like a complete idiot.

If that were the case, she was going to track down Quinn Fabray at her earliest convenience and slap her.

Actually, she should have done that years ago when Quinn first started to ignore her.

She looked at her phone and sighed deeply.

This felt much like how her evening had started. Sitting at a small table alone, waiting for her date to show up while people stared at her and gave her pitying looks because they thought she had been stood up.

Honestly these people had a staring problem.

Now she was waiting for her date to come back.

Except it wasn't a date.

It couldn't be a date anymore because it was Quinn and she was mad at her, and judging by the blonde's face when she had first seen her, she was not who Quinn was expecting to be on a date with.

So it wasn't a date.

But Quinn was sure as hell going to buy her dinner after explaining why the hell she had just dropped off the face of the Earth for seven years.

She deserved at least that. She also deserved to get the most expensive thing on the menu. Quinn looked like she could afford it. And if the blonde expected her to accept any form of apology from her, she was going to need some convincing.

Now if Quinn could only reappear any moment now, that would be great.

Two minutes. She would give her two minutes.

The waiter came with the bottle of wine that Quinn had ordered before she disappeared and rose her brows in surprise because damn, she knew an expensive bottle when she saw one.

Quinn _really_ wanted to mend things between them.

The man poured her a glass and gave her a small smile, refraining from asking her if her blonde companion was planning to rejoin her any time soon because the brunette clearly wasn't in the best of moods.

He also slipped Quinn's credit card back onto the table.

Now the blonde wouldn't vanish and leave her card here, now would she?

_Twelve minutes_.

"Dammit, Quinn...",she muttered as she huffed softly, collecting her purse once again.

* * *

Much like the last time, Quinn arrived at the table just as Rachel was getting up to leave again.

It was quite a familiar sight.

Except this time, instead of shock, she was experiencing panic.

Panic at the thought that Rachel had decided to leave without giving her the chance to properly explain herself.

"Rachel, wait.", she said as she stumbled up to the table, brushing wisps of blonde hair behind her ears.

Yes. She might have ran in a fancy restaurant, in heels, just so she could get back to Rachel in time.

And yes, people were staring at her.

But right now, every minute counted and leaving Rachel waiting was the last thing that was going to help her fix everything.

The brunette paused midway through standing up and glanced up at her with a small frown, slowly sitting back down.

Although Quinn could tell by her body language that she was still hesitating on whether or not she should actually stay this time.

The blonde doctor sighed heavily as she pulled her chair out and finally sat down for the first time, meeting Rachel's eyes.

Every time she did so, it was like looking into the past.

It brought her back to her dream, and every single dream she had before that, that had involved the single most captivating pair of eyes she had ever encountered.

But where her eyes used to look at her with warmth and friendliness, they were now swimming with hesitance, pain and hurt.

Hurt that she had caused.

"Please stay.", Quinn whispered softly as she moved the bottle of wine from in front of her so she could look at her properly.

She felt a familiar fluttering in her stomach as she took a deep breath, allowing herself to drink her in once again.

She was effortlessly stunning.

"Where did you go?", the voice interrupted the momentary silence and Rachel's deep frown and clear annoyance had creased her beautiful features. "I thought you had ran away. I wouldn't have been surprised.",the brunette mumbled bitterly as she took a sip of her wine.

She wasn't ready to play nice yet. Not until she had heard everything Quinn had to say, and decided whether or not her excuse was good enough.

Quinn couldn't help but flinch at Rachel's words as she looked away, trying her best not to act like Rachel's words were hurting her.

After all, it's not like she didn't deserve it.

She fully deserved Rachel's bitterness, her harsh words, her anger.

"I went to the bathroom.",she answered quietly as she glanced back at her. Although this time, she stared at Rachel's collarbone, unable to meet her eyes because she couldn't bare to see the emotions swirling in them.

"I had to... I needed a minute, Rach. Honestly, this is the last thing I expected. My roommate set me up on this date. I never go on dates. I'm always working. She says that it's unhealthy for me and that I need to get out more. She's always trying to set me up and I always say no. But she kept bugging me so I said yes. I didn't think much of it. She told me it was with an actress, but she never told me your name for some reason... It never even crossed my mind that there was a chance that it might be...I walked in late because there was an emergency at work. And here you were. I felt like I was dreaming. I never expected to run into you after all these years and-..."

She took a deep breath, needing a moment to compose herself. She knew she was rambling, but she only had an hour to get everything out before Rachel left.

Potentially forever.

"...I needed a few minutes to myself so I wouldn't completely freak out and so I could gather my thoughts before I came back here and tried my best to explain things to you. Even though it's probably going to be the hardest thing I've ever had to do.",she murmured softly, looking away again, hazel orbs swimming with sadness and obvious guilt.

"It was more than ten minutes.", Rachel said simply.

Quinn looked back at her. Her face was completely blank, like she was trying not to let the blonde's words affect her.

Sighing heavily, she reached a hand forward to pour herself a glass of wine in an attempt to soothe her nerves.

She didn't even realize that her hand was shaking until the neck of the bottle clinked against the rim of the wine glass and cherry colored wine splashed onto the table.

She quickly put the bottle down and blushed deeply in embarrassment, confining her hands to her lap.

She had never been this nervous in her entire life. She had also never expected to be in this situation with Rachel.

Ever.

A part of her had thought that maybe she would never see Rachel again and thus would never have to confess everything to her.

But like Santana had said, life had a sense of humor when it came to her.

"Fuck...",she whispered to herself, causing the brunette seated across from her to raise her brows at her.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she grabbed a napkin and quickly blotted up the spilled wine, trying to buy a few more seconds of time.

"Quinn.", Rachel said firmly as she watched her, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Quinn.",she snapped again when the blonde didn't look up at her and continued to clean her mess.

The taller woman finally looked up at her through her lashes, licking her dry lips.

"Look, you asked for an hour and that's all i'm giving you right now. You walked out of my life seven years ago without a word or explanation. You didn't return my emails or my calls. My texts went unanswered. You left me thinking that you didn't care about me or our friendship anymore. That might have been a long time ago, but if you think that i'm not still upset with you, then you're deeply mistaken. So if I were you, I'd start explaining right now. Because you hurt me. And right now? I don't think there's anything you can really say that's going to change that.", Rachel said evenly as she stared at her, trying to reign in her emotions.

She didn't want to do something foolish like cry. She had done enough of that in the past, and shed far too many tears over the Quinn Fabray.

Quinn just stared at her for the longest time, unblinking.

Moments ago, she had prepared herself to divulge the complete and honest truth to Rachel.

But now? Now she was scared. Scared that the truth would just make things worse for them.

She couldn't bare to hurt Rachel more than she already had.

_Everyone keeps talking about staying in touch and I want to make sure that we do. _

_Everyone keeps talking about staying in touch and I want to make sure that we do. _

_Everyone keeps talking about staying in touch and I want to make sure that we do. _

That one phrase kept replaying in her head, over and over as she stared at Rachel Berry.

Really stared at her for the first time in seven years.

And the brunette stared back, hard and expectant.

She had made a promise to Rachel all those years ago. A promise which she had been intent on keeping, but that she had ultimately broken because of her own cowardice.

Her cowardice that had ruined the barely formed friendship they had.

"_Quinn_.", came the voice again, this time slightly irritated and impatient.

She hadn't started talking yet. Only staring, as if her eyes could talk in her place.

But of course, they couldn't.

One pale hand reached forward and wrapped around her half full glass of wine, bringing it to her lips so she could have something to taste apart from the bitter taste of guilt and regret.

When she set it down, she finally opened her mouth to speak.

"When I was eighteen, I realized that there was a chance that I was in love with you."

Was the first thing she blurted out.

Before Rachel's glass of wine clattered against the table.

Spilling red liquid over the pristine tablecloth.

* * *

xxx

Dun dun dun!

So as you may have noticed, I stopped using the italics for speaking parts like I did in my other fic. According to a reviewer, it was annoying. Honestly, I don't think many of you cared about that but hey.

As you know, cliffhangers are my thing.

But fear not,because now you guys only have to wait two days before the next chapter! I promise. (Maybe less.)

Clearly Quinn didn't choose the best opening line, but let's see where that leads her.

Please be kind and review, it helps and you guys are awesome.

Sorry for being late.

Love you all.

xxx


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: Original glee characters belong to the creators. Other characters are mine.

So proud of myself for getting this posted before midnight.

* * *

Quinn had always known that Rachel Berry had a bit of flare for the dramatic.

After all, this was the girl who had perfected the 'diva storm out' in high school.

And who used to literally pout and stomp her foot when she didn't get her way.

It was adorable, really.

She just didn't expect for Rachel to shatter her glass of wine in the middle of a fancy restaurant.

_Well you did just tell her that you might have been in love with her, you moron. _

Right.

The blonde sighed heavily, ignoring the look of pure shock on the brunette's face in favor of grabbing as many napkins as she could to soak up the red wine before it ruined either one of their dresses.

"Careful.", she muttered, gesturing for Rachel to back away from the table as she picked up the shattered pieces of glass and wrapped them in a napkin.

It was safe to say that if they hadn't caught everyone's attention before, they had now.

Every single person in the restaurant was gawking at them and their ruined tablecloth.

In an instant, the waiter was at their table and Quinn flashed him an apologetic smile as she dumped the glass shards in the bucket he was holding out for her.

"I'm so sorry. It seems my date has butter fingers." She chuckled awkwardly, ignoring the scoff she heard from Rachel.

"You'd drop something too if the girl you haven't seen in seven years suddenly tells you that-..."

"I'll pay to replace the glass. And the tablecloth. Just put it on my bill." Quinn quickly cut in, interrupting the brunette.

She didn't want Rachel to open her mouth and let the whole restaurant know how much of an idiot she was.

Something told her that she'd get enough heat from the brunette after their conversation was over.

The waiter took the bucket away and promised to return in a moment with a new table cloth while Quinn shook her head and wiped her hands on a remaining napkin, plopping back down onto her chair.

Rachel was staring at her, obviously waiting for her to follow up on the bombshell she had suddenly dropped a few minutes ago.

Quinn sighed and ran a hand through her hair, tugging at the ends like she always did when she was nervous or stressed.

At least the shattering wine glass had bought her a bit of time.

She hadn't expected for something along the lines of 'I think I was in love with you' to be the first thing out of her mouth.

But in situations like this, Quinn was kind of an idiot.

And as far as opening lines went,well...She had certainly gone for the shocker, hadn't she?

"I'm still waiting on an explanation, you know." Said the brunette seated in front of her. "Do you really think you can show up here after seven years, tell a girl that you might have been in love with her and then not-"

"Rachel." Quinn cut her off again, huffing softly as she watched the waited return so he could carefully remove the soiled tablecloth, wipe the table down and then replace it with a fresh one.

"Look, I told you I was going to explain everything. It's not my fault you overreacted and made a mess." She muttered.

She didn't have to look at Rachel to know that the girl was rolling her eyes at her and most likely crossing her arms over her chest.

Glancing up through her lashes, she found that she had been right on that assumption.

"You told me you were in love with me!"

"No, I told you that when I was 18, I realized that there was a _chance_ that I was in love with you.",she corrected.

"Same thing, Quinn."

Now it was the blonde's turn to roll her eyes.

"Look, let's just order something so we don't look ridiculous sitting in a fancy restaurant without ordering anything but wine, and then I swear that I'm going to explain. Properly this time.",she promised.

There was a long pause from Rachel as Quinn watched her intently.

There was always that fear in her mind that the brunette could decide to leave at any moment, taking away her chance at redeeming herself.

After all, she had almost left twice already.

Finally, Rachel seemed to relax a little as she picked up the menu from the table and flipped through it for a moment before nodding slightly.

"Fine. But I'm getting the lobster and you're paying." she said simply, snapping the menu shut and placing it back on the edge of the table.

Quinn, who had been taking a sip of her wine, put down the glass and raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow at her, looking at her curiously as she absently licked the remnants of red liquid from her bottom lip.

She didn't miss how Rachel's eyes seemed to follow the movement.

"Lobster? What happened to being vegan?" she asked with a small frown as she picked up her own menu and absently flipped through the first few pages.

Rachel shrugged lightly, taking a sip from the new glass the waiter had brought her after her small accident.

"Do you have any idea how expensive it is to maintain the vegan lifestyle while living in New York City? Sure I can afford now, but... When I was in college, it was hard. So I began having dairy and seafood on occasion. I still don't eat red meat or pork. But I enjoy fish."

Quinn made an 'o' shape with her lips and nodded slowly before glancing back down at the menu and quirking her brow when she saw the price of the lobster.

"So you decide to get the most expensive thing on the menu?"She asked curiously, glancing back at her.

"Consider it one of many in the steps required for me to forgive you for cutting me out of your life seven years ago, Quinn."

The blonde winced every time the woman brought that up and sighed heavily, closing her own menu and setting it on top of Rachel's.

It was only fair.

If she was going to have to grovel at the actress' feet later, she might as well treat her to a five star dinner if it would help her case.

Flashing the girl a small smile, even though she mostly got a frown in return, she raised her hand and waved the waiter over.

"Two lobsters please." She said as she handed him back the menus.

If Rachel decided to kill her for being such a jerk, at least she would have a nice last meal.

When the waiter had jotted down their orders and topped off their glasses before walking away, Quinn heard a soft clearing of throat and turned her head to see Rachel giving her that same expectant look.

She felt her cheeks turn a soft shade of pink and smiled innocently as she leaned back in her chair.

"Right. Okay. I promised an explanation and you're going to get it." she said as she breathed in deeply, her legs bouncing nervously under the table.

At least Rachel couldn't start screaming at her in a restaurant full of people, right?

_She was almost yelling at you earlier, remember?_

Oh god.

"Okay so, like I said earlier... When I was eighteen, I realized that there was a chance that I was in love with you.",she murmured softly, staring at the tablecloth like it was the most interesting thing in the world so she didn't have to look at Rachel's face.

"But it's not something that I thought about much. In fact, I actually ignored it for the better part of a year after that. I thought that I was crazy. I told myself that I wasn't in love with you, that I was just thoroughly enjoying our friendship because we were finally starting something after all those years of fighting over stupid stuff. I just thought that my mind was playing tricks on me or something. That I was mistaking a real friendship for love."

She paused for a moment, her hands absently toying with the hem of the table cloth.

"Then you started to ignore me. You stopped answering my calls. My emails...", she heard Rachel say in a bitter tone and immediately felt that familiar pang of guilt in her chest.

She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed heavily.

"I know. I kept telling myself that what I was... feeling, was because of our friendship. But as we spent more and more time together, I realized that I was definitely kidding myself. No one fantasizes about kissing their friend." She muttered, her cheeks heating up out of embarrassment.

"So you just cut me off?" Rachel asked, hurt apparent in her tone.

"That wasn't really my plan."She mumbled softly, taking another sip of her wine to lubricate her dry throat, licking her lips lightly.

"Then what was your plan, Quinn?" Rachel asked, this time sounding more irritated than hurt. "Because as far as I'm concerned, you cut me off. For seven years. And you have no idea how much that hurt."

"It wasn't supposed to be permanent, Rachel!" She snapped loudly before she realized the volume she had spoken in and ducked her head embarrassingly as a few people close by turned to look at them.

They were really putting on a show that night.

With a sigh, she rubbed the back of her neck and looked up at the woman. Her date.

The person she had missed like crazy all those years, because of her stupid mistakes.

She met her eyes and held her gaze for as long as she could, trying to convey a wave of apologies without having to actually speak them.

"Rachel, I was freaking out, okay? You're talking to the girl who was raised by strict Christian parents. I mean, I've never had a problem with... homosexuality, despite the beliefs they tried to instill in me. After all, I was best friends with a lesbian...",she trailed off for a moment, thinking of her call to Santana and how the Latina had told her to be completely honest, despite how hard it might be.

"I was just scared of how they would react.", she continued quietly, without breaking eye contact.

If she was going to come clean, she was going to look at her instead of staring at the table or the ground like some sort of coward.

"Besides, I wasn't even completely sure if I was gay or not. I guess I was confused.", she shrugged lightly, biting her lower lip for a moment before releasing it.

There was another moment of silence as Quinn tried to figure out what to say next, but Rachel ended up beating her to it.

"So what did you mean by 'it wasn't supposed to be permanent'?", the brunette asked after a moment.

"My plan was to give myself some space. But it was only supposed to last a few weeks. Maybe a month. I wanted some time alone so I could figure things out. Figure out my feelings and if I was actually gay or not. "

Her first mistake was obviously not telling the brunette that she needed space in the first place.

"You were dating Noah then." Rachel said, suddenly remembering that fact.

"Yes. I was. And I didn't tell him about...the stuff I might be feeling. I didn't want to hurt him, and I didn't want to say anything until I was completely sure. I mean, we were happy together. Being with him made sense at the time and because of that, a part of me kept saying 'you can't be gay' or 'it's just a phase'. But then I met-..."

She was suddenly cut off when their waiter showed up at their table with their food and she sighed deeply, thankful for the interruption because she wasn't quite ready to tell Rachel about Julie. The girl she had experimented with at a party. The girl who made everything slide into place. The girl who made her realize that everything she was feeling wasn't just a stupid phase. That what she was feeling for Rachel wasn't only friendship, but love as well.

That girl was like a sexual awakening of sorts and she had her to thank for a lot of things.

She looked up at the waiter and smiled gratefully, watching Rachel do the same.

He asked if they needed anything else and she was tempted to say yes, just so she could have a bit more time.

But Rachel was quick to dismiss him and the blonde sighed as she slumped back in her chair.

So much for stalling.

"Met who, Quinn?", the brunette asked without missing a beat as she set to work on cracking open her lobster.

This was still all too strange to Quinn, having this kind of conversation over a fancy dinner.

The kind of dinner that was typically had on a real date.

Not...whatever this qualified as.

With a hard swallow, Quinn picked up her fork, absently pushing around the vegetables that were on her plate.

"Julie. Her name was Julie." , she murmured softly, glancing up at Rachel for a moment before looking away when she noticed that the brunette was looking at her curiously. "We started out as friends. I was still dating Noah and trying to figure everything out. We hung out at lot and I knew she was bisexual. But nothing ever happened until..." she paused for a moment and popped a baby carrot in her mouth, chewing briefly before she swallowed and licked her lips. "We went to a party together. She kissed me. One thing led to another...", she trailed off.

"And then what?" Rachel asked, her voice barely carrying above the sound of utensils clinking against China plates.

"Then I knew. I knew that everything wasn't a phase like I was trying to convince myself. I knew that I liked women. Julie helped me... discover my sexuality."

She watched carefully as Rachel seemed to process everything.

The brunette didn't look upset.

But of course, she they hadn't covered everything.

Yet.

"What about Noah?"

Quinn's lips curved into a small smile then as she took a long sip of her wine and licked her lips, remembering her conversation with Puck all those years ago, the day after she had hooked up with Julie.

"I told him that I liked girls. There was some crying, on my part. And I know that I broke his heart in the process. But in the end? He was happy for me. He hugged me and told me he loved me...And that he'd always be there for me no matter what happened. He was the first person I told and I'll always be grateful for how supportive he was." ,she murmured softly, feeling a few tears sting her eyes, which she immediately blinked away.

After a moment, she cleared her throat awkwardly and looked back up at the brunette, trying to gauge her reaction.

But Rachel was just staring at her with a blank expression, like she didn't want to reveal what she was feeling just yet.

For the next few minutes, the two of them ate in silence before their meal could get cold.

After all, dinner was already going to cost her a fortune.

What with the two lobsters, the bottle of wine and the glass and table cloth she had to replace.

She might as well eat.

But eating a lobster proved to be quite hard when she couldn't take her eyes off of a certain brunette.

They might not be on the best of terms at the moment, but she couldn't deny the fact that Rachel looked stunning in her form fitting dress, sitting under the warm lighting of the restaurant.

Every time she looked at her, those old feelings kept swimming back up to the surface, despite how much time had passed since she had last seen her.

She would have thought that her feelings would have faded after all that time.

But apparently, some things never change.

"So if you figured everything out with this... Julie girl", she said the name like it left a bad taste in her mouth. "Why didn't you come back? You said that you leaving wasn't supposed to be permanent. So why didn't you come back when you had figured everything out?" Rachel asked, clearly confused as to what had caused the seven year long disappearance.

Quinn felt like she no longer had an appetite once she heard Rachel's question, because it triggered a painful memory in her mind.

One of the hardest memories she had ever experienced.

She dropped her napkin on top of her plate and drew in a shaky breath, closing her eyes for a moment.

* * *

_7 years ago_

Quinn was a nervous wreck.

Actually, she was an emotional wreck as well.

She had just watched Puck leave her dorm after she had broken up with him.

After she had come out to him as well.

It had gone better than she had expected, but she knew that she had broken his heart and for that, she felt extremely guilty.

But it had to be done if she ever wanted a chance at being happy with the person she truly wanted.

And that person was Rachel.

Everything she had been feeling as they had gotten closer over the past year after graduation wasn't a phase or some kind of delusion that her mind was having.

She had genuine feelings for Rachel Berry, and she was proud to say that she accepted them.

Even if the thought of it was still quite scary.

Now the next step would be to go to her.

She had a bunch of unanswered emails from Rachel in her inbox, and knew that it was time to bring her back into her life.

After all, the reason she had pushed her away in the first place was so she could figure herself out.

And she did.

She just hoped that Rachel would welcome back with open arms.

Although there was a chance that the brunette would hate her for it.

But she would take that chance.

Before she knew it, Quinn had taken a taxi to the train station with nothing but her purse as a carry on.

She knew that this wasn't something she could do over the phone.

Or an email.

Or a text message.

She had to go see Rachel in person.

So she would take the train to New York City, she would confess everything to Rachel and everything would work out perfectly fine.

...Right?

Two hours later, she was stepping onto the platform at Grand Central Station, her heart racing like a galloping horse as she practically ran up onto the busy Manhattan streets to flag down a cab.

She basically threw herself in when one of the yellow cars stopped in front of her, rattling off Rachel's address as she smoothed out her attire.

She had left the dorms so fast that she hadn't taken the time to get properly dressed.

She was still wearing a pair of black yoga pants along with a grey Yale t-shirt, her hair up in a loose ponytail.

A short cab ride later, she was paying the driver before stepping out in front of Rachel's apartment building.

This was it.

The day that her life would change forever.

She could hear her heart thrumming on her ears as she boarded the elevators, wiping her clammy hands on her yoga pants.

She had never been so nervous or terrified before.

A moment later, the doors opened onto Rachel's floor and she stepped out.

For a brief second, she thought about turning around.

This was ridiculous.

She couldn't just show up here after a month of not talking to the brunette and proclaim her love for her.

That was utterly insane and only happened in cheesy romantic comedies.

_It only works out in those movies too. _

And yet here she was.

Even though her mind was telling her to turn back, her feet had somehow carried her to Rachel's door.

It took a few calming breaths before she finally had the courage to lift her hand and knock.

And...nothing.

There was no answer.

She frowned slightly.

She didn't think of the fact that there was a slight chance that Rachel wasn't home.

After all, it's not like she had called to announce her arrival.

But then she heard it.

Noise coming from inside.

With a raised eyebrow, she leaned in and pressed her ear to the door.

The sound was unmistakable.

Rachel's adorable giggle.

A grin spread on the blonde's lips.

"She must have not heard me knock...",she said to herself as she put her hand on the doorknob and pushed it open.

Indeed, this was the day that her life would change forever.

Because as she opened the door and peaked inside, she felt her world begin to crumble as she saw her.

Rachel.

On the living room floor, with her shirt pushed up, exposing her taut stomach and tanned skin.

There was a boy on top of her.

And their lips were locked in a deep kiss.

She didn't think it was possible, but in a split second, she felt her heart shatter and sink down into her stomach all at once.

She had to get the hell out of there.

Now.

She left without being seen and was able to hold her tears until she was safely back on the train.

What she saw that day was the main reason why she had never come back.

And that was the last day she had seen Rachel.

* * *

Until now.

She hadn't realized she had been crying until the brunette reached over and silently pushed a napkin into her hand.

Rachel had been stunned silent at Quinn's retelling of that day.

It was obvious that the brunette had no idea that Quinn had walked in on her making out with the boy she had met in her dance class, the boy who had later on became her boyfriend for a while.

Quinn had left without a trace, without ever telling her, and this was the first time that she was hearing about it.

"Why didn't you tell me, Quinn?",she asked quietly as Quinn wiped her eyes, careful not to smudge her mascara.

With a sad smile, Quinn drew in a shaky breath.

"I felt like my heart had been smashed into a million pieces. I came up there to tell you how I felt, to see if there was ever a chance, even a small one, that you felt the same way. B-But... The last thing I expected was to see you with someone else. I didn't know how to react, Rach. I was just so... hurt. So I ran. Then I decided that cutting off contact with you for good would help to spare my feelings. I couldn't bear seeing you with someone again. It hurt too much. But...I-I know that what I did was cowardly. I should have never pushed you out of my life for that long and god, I'm so fucking sorry, Rachel...",she sighed as she put her head in her hands.

The tears were unstoppable now, slowly dripping down onto the tablecloth below her.

"After a while, I learned to accept it. That you had someone and that you were never going to be mine. But by then it was too late. You had stopped trying to contact me. I didn't get any more emails from you, or phone calls. I thought it was too late so I just... I moved on with my life. Just like you were doing with yours. Before I knew it, it had been a year. And then another, and another. I finished medical school. I moved out here. I thought about looking you up but that voice in my head kept telling me that you probably hated me by now. So I stayed away. Seven years passed since the day that I felt my heart break because of you. And now here we are. On a date. Where I finally have the chance to tell you why I left in the first place." ,she murmured softly, looking up at the brunette through her lashes.

"I don't know if you could ever forgive me, but i'm so, so fucking sorry, Rachel."she whispered quietly.

* * *

It was safe to say that Rachel was at a loss for words.

And that was coming from Rachel Berry, the girl who never shut up.

But now she really had no idea what to say.

She was still trying to process all of this, but it was a hell of a lot to take in.

When Quinn had blurted out the fact that she thought she had been in love with her after high school had ended, she thought it had been a joke.

But as the blonde explained herself, she felt her stomach twist into knots.

This was real.

The one thing she had never thought would actually happen, was real.

Quinn had had feelings for her.

It was all too much.

But the part that had hit her the hardest, was when Quinn had told her about coming up to New York City to confess her feelings for her, only to find her making out in the middle of her living room with some boy.

That had just about broken her heart.

She felt it ache inside her chest as she watched the blonde dissolve into a mess of tears, and a part of her was telling her to go around the table and hug Quinn.

Hug her and tell her that everything was going to be okay.

But the other part of her, the part that was still angry and hurt at Quinn's disappearance, made her stay in her spot.

That same part was furious.

Furious that she had gone all this time without knowing how Quinn truly felt about her.

She kept staring at her.

With a mixture of shock, disbelief, confusion and sadness.

Anger and heartache.

All these years she had been in pain, thinking that Quinn had cut her out of her life because she didn't value their friendship anymore.

Because she didn't care about her.

Because she had realized that Rachel was nothing but that same loser she had gone to school with and didn't want to have her in her life anymore.

She had never once considered that Quinn might have not returned because she was hurt as well.

For what seemed like the longest minute of her life, Rachel Berry just sat there without saying a word.

She hadn't forgiven Quinn yet, not even close, but she now new the reason behind her disappearance.

She couldn't exactly blame herself for Quinn being hurt, and it wasn't fair that the blonde seemed to be blaming her when she was the one who had left in the first place.

Quinn was the one who had walked in to her place unannounced, and it's not like she knew about the blonde's feelings for her.

For all she knew, Quinn didn't want anything to do with her.

So she wasn't doing anything wrong by kissing that guy on her living room floor and feeling guilty for it would be ridiculous.

But she still felt bad.

She didn't know what to do.

She didn't even know how to explain her own feelings.

Did she have feelings for Quinn back then?

_Of course you did, Rachel. Everyone knows that._

_You just couldn't admit it, remember?_

She couldn't do this right now.

She needed time to properly process everything Quinn had told her. She had so many questions to ask. So many other things she wanted to know.

But for now... she had to go.

It was too much for her and she needed to get away.

She looked at the time on her phone and swallowed thickly.

Then she did something that she knew would hurt Quinn terribly, but the brunette needed some space of her own right now.

"Your hour is up, Quinn." , she said in a tone so quiet that it barely reached the blonde's ears.

And with that, Rachel Berry was gone.

Before Quinn could even register what had happened.

The brunette was running out of the Bistro just in time for her own tears to finally make an appearance.

Everything was a mess right now and she had no idea how she was supposed to feel about all of this.

About everything she had just learned.

The girl she had cared the most about had turned up out of the blue as her date after seven years of...nothing.

And now she was running from her.

Leaving a distraught Quinn Fabray behind.

Leaving her past behind.

At a table for two.

* * *

xxx

Oh don't hate me.

So Quinn finally sums up why she left. Seeing Rachel kissing another guy hurt her, but obviously Rachel can't be blamed for that because Quinn never said anything.

Aaand Quinn is still at fault here for going seven years without trying to talk to her. But we all know Quinn isn't the best at handling situations the right way.

Maybe leaving the restaurant wasn't the best idea, but hey, I don't blame Rachel for doing it.

So how will Dr. Quinn Fabray find her again and hear the brunette's thoughts as well as how she feels about all of this?

Well you'll have to stay tuned to find out.

Please review. I love reviews.

I'll update as soon as I can.

Oh, and Kate the roommate is coming back. She might help Quinn find Rachel.

Have a good Valentine's Day, lovelies. 3

xxx


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**: Original Glee characters belong to the creators. Other characters are mine unless stated otherwise.

I wanted to have this up a few hours earlier, but... I was kind of distracted by The Oscars.

* * *

Rachel was gone.

That was the only thing that was currently registering in Quinn's mind.

Rachel had gotten up and left. Just like that.

She hadn't seen her in seven years and now, there was a chance that she might never see her again after telling her why she decided to cut contact with her.

Not that she'd blame her, really.

One minute, she was spilling her heart out (albeit a bit pathetically) to the brunette.

And the next...She was gone.

Leaving her sitting alone at the table, in utter shock.

Just as the waiter arrived to ask if they needed anything else and to refill the bread basket on the table.

Not that the really noticed, no.

She could only vaguely register him asking if she was alright.

But she was too busy staring at the spot that Rachel had just vacated, trying to process the fact that she hadn't just imagined the brunette walking away from her.

She had screwed up, hadn't she?

She swallowed thickly and straightened up, smoothing down her dress as she looked around, trying to ignore the fact that some of the restaurant's guests were staring at her curiously.

Again.

That was sort of the running theme of the evening.

People staring at her for basically giving them their daily dose of nightly drama.

She stared down at her plate and swallowed thickly. She had lost all her appetite.

This was all her fault and she knew it.

Yes, she had promised to tell Rachel why she had decided to cut her out of her life all those years ago.

And she had done exactly that.

But it might have been too much for the brunette, especially after all these years.

And there was also the fact that...she might have made it seem like she was blaming Rachel for her leaving.

Which wasn't the case.

She knew that it wasn't Rachel's fault, but her own. She had been the one stupid enough for not telling Rachel that she needed space. She had been the idiot who had cut off one of the most important people in her life without any warning.

She was the one who took too long to figure herself out, and when she finally did, it was too late because Rachel had found somebody before she had the chance to tell her how she felt.

And most importantly, she was the one who couldn't swallow her pride and decided to never return to Rachel's life because she thought that it was too late and that the brunette was probably better off without her anyway.

Quinn had made a lot of mistakes in her life.

A lot.

But she knew that the biggest one by far was how badly she had screwed up with Rachel.

Then _and _now.

And the thought that now she might never get the chance to make things right like she wanted to and apologize over and over again until her voice was hurt?

It made her stomach twist into knots.

"Fuck...",she breathed out as she slumped back in her chair and ran a hand through her long blonde locks, sighing heavily.

_Your hour is up. _

That was the last thing Rachel said before she had left.

And the brunette had looked so...distraught.

Because Quinn had basically just unloaded something that was incredibly emotionally heavy on her, which was probably the dumbest thing to do when they were sitting in a public place after not seeing each other for so long.

_Stupid, stupid Quinn. _

She had to make things right. She had to find Rachel again.

But how?

Rachel had been living in New York City for years, but Quinn had no idea where.

And had no clue where to look.

"Excuse me, ma'am? Is your...date planning on coming back?"

She hadn't realized that the waiter was still standing beside her, staring down at her with a worried look.

She sighed deeply and slowly shook her head. No. Her date was probably not planning on coming back.

Which meant that she should probably pay the bill and try to walk out of here with some of her pride intact.

There wasn't much left.

People were already whispering about the blonde sitting at the small table for two, now a table for one, whose date had suddenly walked out on her.

Talk about embarrassing.

She cleared her throat and looked up at the waiter, trying to force an even smile onto her lips as she reached into her purse and handed him her credit card.

"Do me a favor and don't throw these away?", she said as she gestured to the two lobsters that were barely eaten on the plates and about to go to waste. "I'm paying for them, and I'm sure you can find someone who's going without dinner tonight. So please give these to them."

Yeah, she was still distraught over the fact that Rachel had actually left. But it didn't mean that she wasn't still a decent human being, and she wouldn't let the expensive food go to waste just because she was a major idiot.

The waiter looked at her and raised his brows in surprise. He hesitated for a moment, but seeing the look on the blonde's face and the state she was in, he ultimately agreed and left for a moment to swipe her card before he returned with her receipt.

She didn't even look at it, even though she knew it was probably well over a hundred dollars.

She didn't even give a damn.

She stuffed the receipt in her purse and thanked him before she stood up and turned around.

For a moment, she paused.

They were all looking at her.

Or pretending to look at their plates and not at the girl whose date just ran out on her.

Fucking wonderful.

But she was Quinn Fabray.

And for a moment, she channeled the Quinn Fabray she was back in high school, even though she had promised herself to never be that person again.

She clenched her jaw and held her head up high, and with her purse under her arm, she walked straight out of the bistro.

And somehow, it felt like she was walking right back into reality.

The cool evening air hit her, and as her dress fluttered in the breeze, she inhaled sharply.

Back in the warm, cozy setting of the bistro, she felt like she and Rachel had been in their own little world. Or even a dream, because lately, that was the only place where she saw Rachel.

Her dreams.

But now, as she walked back onto the streets of New York, it finally sank that everything that had just happened was completely, utterly and... unfortunately...real.

After seven years of having Rachel Berry in the back of her mind every single day, wondering where the brunette was, what she was doing, if she was happy... After all those years, she got to see her again. Talk to her. See those captivating eyes, more enticing than melted chocolate.

And what had she done?

What Quinn Fabray does best, of course.

Screw up.

Okay, maybe what she did best nowadays was saving incredible little children from dying of horrible diseases and things of the sort.

But, she did do what the younger Quinn Fabray did best. And _that_ was screw up.

But unlike the younger Quinn Fabray, she wasn't going to wait seven years to fix her mess and end up losing Rachel all over again.

Hell no.

She took a deep breath and tried to collect her thoughts as she looked around the busy street.

There were people passing by in every direction, off in their own little worlds and living their lives without the knowledge that Quinn was an idiot.

Thank god for that.

What was she supposed to do now?

Well, first things first, she would start by going back to her apartment, change out of her dress and figure out how she was going to find Rachel so she could apologize (again), reassure her that she wasn't trying to put the blame on her, and then offer to give her some space to process...everything.

And by everything, she meant the fact that she had incredibly strong feelings for her all those years ago but had been too much of a coward and an idiot to own up to them in time.

She just hoped that some way, somehow, she'd get Rachel to forgive her and that maybe the girl could find it in her heart to let her be a part of her life again.

But for now, that was probably like dreaming in color since Rachel probably hated her at the moment.

With a sigh, she finally moved from her spot in the middle of the sidewalk, where she was undoubtedly blocking people's paths and threw her hand up to call for a taxi.

When one stopped in front of her, she quickly got in the back and slumped against the upholstered seats, shaking her head at herself.

"Bad night,miss?", the driver asked from the front, looking at her in the rear view mirror with a concerned smile.

She glanced up at him as she straightened back up and nodded slowly.

"You can say that. I kind of messed up with someone I care a lot about. And now I don't know what to do or how I'm supposed to fix things.", she said before she rattled off her address to him as he pulled off from the curb.

There was silence for a moment and all she heard was the sound of the yellow cab making its way through the crowded streets of New York towards her apartment building.

"Miss? If I may give you a piece of advice that my mother told me when I was a young boy...", the man began to say and she looked up at him curiously, catching his warm gaze in the mirror again.

She gave him a brief smile before she nodded slowly, biting the edge of her lip.

"I don't know what it is you screwed up, miss. But when I was a child, my mother used to tell me that there was no use in beating yourself up over mistakes. The reason why God allows us to make them in the first place is so we can improve for the next time and do things better and become better people. If we didn't mess up, we would never be able to learn and grow from our mistakes. And learning from our past failures is one of the most important keys to living life to the best of our abilities. So do not let your pretty face frown because you screwed up, miss. Go forth and try fixing what you did wrong. And grow from it. I am sure that you, as well as this person you care about, will be grateful for it."

And with that, the cab pulled up in front of her apartment building.

But Quinn made no move to get up.

Not yet.

She was taking the time to let the man's words sink in, and he didn't rush her. He simply smiled at her through the rear view mirror.

He was right. There was no use in kicking herself over what she did. Yes, she made a big mistake when she was in college, stubborn and at times idiotic. And yes, she had screwed up by unloading so much onto Rachel, partially blaming her and causing her to leave. But she wasn't planning on letting another seven years go by without seeing the one person she had cared about more than anything.

She _had_ learned from her mistakes and knew that waiting so long was the worst possible thing she could do, because it had completely ruined the barely built friendship she had with Rachel.

And now she was going to fix things. She was going to no matter what it took, even if she had to grovel at Rachel's feet and plead the girl for another chance.

"Thank you so much." Quinn said after a full minute in complete silence had passed. She dug in her purse and found her wallet, taking out a couple of bills. They amounted to far more than the cab fare, but she handed them over anyway and gave the man a grateful smile.

"You're right. I'm going to fix this. I'm going to fix this and I'm going to get her back.", she said before she got out of the cab, closing the door behind her.

The man drove off and she sighed, even more determined to get a hold of Rachel before it was too late.

She walked into the building and took the elevator up to her floor, already thinking of a plan to reach the brunette.

She could try calling Santana again. She would surely have Rachel's number.

But she couldn't have the Latina knowing that she had messed up her only chance to explain herself to Rachel. Santana would come down there and kick her ass if she knew that she had somehow caused Rachel to leave.

So that was definitely out of the question.

She had to find another way.

As the elevator slowly crept up to her floor, she thought back to her conversation with her former best friend and she could hear the girl's voice in her head, telling her how incredibly hurt Rachel had been when she had walked out on her, and their friendship.

She remembered how the stream of emails from the brunette had slowed to a stop, until Rachel stopped trying to reach her all together.

She remembered how devastated she had been when she learned that Rachel was dating someone else.

She remembered making the decision that severing all ties with the girl, even if it was incredibly painful, would be best for both of them.

But it wasn't the best. All that it had done was prove that Quinn had been a coward and an asshole, and that Rachel had never deserved any of what she had done.

None of this was Rachel's fault and it never had been.

It was all on her.

If she had only told her about her feelings from the start...

But it was too late for that.

As soon as the doors pulled open, she quickly walked out of the elevator and fished her keys out of her purse.

She was in such a rush to get into her apartment that her hands were shaking as she struggled to put the key in the damn hole and unlock it.

But before she even managed to do that, the door suddenly swung open and she was so surprised that she stumbled back a step, only to have her hand caught by a concerned redhead.

Kate. Of course. In the midst of everything, she had forgotten about her roommate and how she must now have about a dozen texts from her, asking her how the date was going.

Well, she was in for a surprise.

"Q? What the hell are you doing home already?", the girl asked as she tugged her inside and closed the door, furrowing her brows. "What happened to your date? God, please don't tell me that you bailed on her. You promised me that you were going to go this time. I thought you and this actress chic would hit it off.",she huffed softly, crossing her arms over her chest as she eyed the blonde.

Quinn sighed heavily as she slipped out of her heels. She had been too busy trying to figure out how to fix this mess to even realize that her feet had been killing her.

She dropped her purse onto the kitchen counter before slumping down on a stool near the breakfast bar, all while Kate watched her curiously, waiting for her to say something.

"Do you remember me telling you about a girl named Rachel?", she asked her after a moment in a quiet tone as she stared down at the marble counter.

Kate quirked a brow at her as she walked over to her, nodding slowly but wondering what this had to do with the blonde's date.

"Yeah. You told me once after you had one too many glasses of wine. She's that girl you had major feelings for when you were in college but you didn't tell her because you weren't sure if you were even gay or not, and if your feelings were legit or whatever. Then you realized they were and found out she already had a boyfriend and you never talked to her again after that. Something like that, right?"

Quinn swallowed hard and toyed with the hem of her dress as she nodded slowly.

"Yeah, something like that.", she murmured softly.

"What does that have to do with your date though?"

Quinn let out another sigh and looked up at her roommate.

"She was my blind date. Rachel. She's the girl that you had me set up with. I hadn't seen her in seven years and when I got to the restaurant, she was there. Waiting for her date. Me."

For what seemed like the longest minute ever, there was complete silence in the apartment as Kate processed what the blonde had just told her. Slowly, Quinn saw the redhead's eyes widening comically as she stared at her in disbelief.

"Shit. Oh my god, Q. Are you fucking serious!?", she asked as she rushed over to her and sat down on the stool beside her, still wide eyed.

Quinn sighed sadly and nodded, rubbing the back of her neck.

Just by the expression on Quinn's face, Kate could tell that it hadn't gone well.

"What happened? Was she mad?", her roommate asked, putting a gentle hand on the woman's arm in an attempt to comfort her.

"You can say that, yeah.", Quinn huffed as she met her gaze, shaking her head. "I basically told her everything. I told her that when we started building a friendship after high school, I started thinking that I had feelings for her. I told her that I decided to take some time away to figure things out. I-I told her that I saw her with her new boyfriend the day I had decided to come up to New York because I was finally ready to tell her how I felt...And then...Well, she left.", she finished quietly as she swallowed hard, trying not to cry.

She wasn't going to let herself burst into tears again. She had done that enough for one night.

Kate furrowed her brows as she looked at her intently, not understanding what it was exactly that had made Rachel leave.

"Wait, what? Why? I mean, you told her the truth. You came clean. Why would she leave?"

Quinn huffed softly, absently picking at a loose thread in her dress.

"Because...I kind of just unloaded everything on her and I was crying like an idiot in the restaurant. Not to mention that I kind of made it seem like it was her fault that I haven't seen her in seven years because I saw her with some guy and decided to just stop talking to her...I think it was too much for her to handle in one sitting."

Kate just stared at her for a moment before she shook her head.

"Wow, you're an idiot Fabray. I mean, you're a genius who saves little cuties on a daily basis... but you're also a fucking moron.",she huffed.

Quinn looked up at her with a deep frown then, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hey! Don't call me that. You're my roommate. You're supposed to be on my side here..."

Kate rolled her eyes at her as she stood up, moving to the fridge to take out a bottle of wine and pour them each a glass.

"Q, I love you, but you really are an idiot.", she said as she slid the glass over to her before taking a sip of her own. "I mean, you pulled that stupid move when you were in college and now that you finally have the chance to see her after all these years, you basically tell her that it's _her_ fault for getting a boyfriend because that's why you left for good? When she didn't even know about your goddamn feelings in the first place? Yeah, I'd say you're a fucking idiot. No wonder she left. I couldn't handle somebody telling me that. Especially since she was probably freaking out for seven years, wondering why the hell you just cut her off like that. Fuck, Q. What's wrong with you?"

Okay, that was harsh.

But Kate was right, Quinn thought as she slowly brought the glass of wine to her lips and took a sip, absently licking her lips before she sighed heavily and put her head in her hands.

"Oh my god, what _is_ wrong with me!? Why did I even tell her that? I can't blame her for trying to live her fucking life while I was out trying to figure out if I was actually head over heels for her or not without even telling her that I wanted space from her in the first place. I just left. You're right...no wonder she left.", she muttered, frowning deeply.

_So do not let your pretty face frown because you screwed up, miss. Go forth and try fixing what you did wrong._

Well it was pretty damn hard not to frown right now because of the complete mess that was her relationship with Rachel. Or lack thereof. _She had nothing with Rachel. _

But that cab driver was right about one thing. She was sure as hell going to try and fix it.

"I have to find her.", she said suddenly as she stood up, drinking her wine in one gulp before looking at the redhead seriously.

Kate was just staring her at her, brows raised curiously.

"I can't keep messing up like this, Kate. I have to find her. Right now. And I have to tell her that I'm sorry for trying to blame her for what I did. I have to ask her for a do over. I need to start over with her. It's the only way that I can have her back into my life. We need to talk somewhere that's not a restaurant in the middle of Manhattan where thirty people are staring at us like we're the new Monday night show on CBS. We need to hash everything out so we can..."

"So you can what?"

"So we can begin again. You have to ask your friend for her number. Please. I have to call her before it's too late again.",she pleaded.

Kate just stared at her for a moment before she sighed and slowly shook her head.

"I can't do that, Quinn.", she said finally.

The blonde's face fell and she furrowed her brows in confusion at the answer.

"Wait, what? Why not? I just told you that I need to talk to her now and fix things before I lose my chance again."

Kate simply sighed softly and gave the blonde a small smile.

"Q, you said it yourself. Everything was probably just too much for Rachel to handle, so she left. I don't think that you should chase after her now. It'll only make things worse. Give her time to think, and let her come to you."

"But...what if she decides she never wants to see me again? I can't just lose her for the second time, Kate. I can't. I'm not going to let that happen again."She said angrily.

"Look, just trust me okay? I don't know, Rachel. But I know you, and I know you're an amazing person who screws up sometimes, like a normal human being. And if Rachel is the incredible girl you told me about when you were drunk on cheap wine, then she's going to come to you when she's done thinking all of this through. Because as mad and hurt as she is right now, she probably wants you back in her life just as much as you want her back in yours. Just give her some time, okay? Don't chase."

Quinn closed her eyes for a moment and swallowed hard, running a hand over her face tiredly.

As much as she hated to admit it, Kate was right.

If she ran after Rachel now and tried to get in touch with her, there was a chance that it would just do more damage to the already messy situation.

It was Rachel's turn for space now, and even though she desperately wanted to see her or talk to her right this second, she would give her what she needed and let her reach out to her when she was ready.

She just hoped that that's what it would come to.

Because there was always the possibility of Rachel deciding that she didn't want to deal with this. Didn't want to deal with Quinn and her mistakes and her feelings.

She was hoping for the better option.

With a sigh, she opened her eyes and looked at Kate before nodding absently, bringing her empty glass of wine to the sink and rinsing it.

"You're right. You're...completely right. I mean, a part of me still wants to scour the city for her right this instant and beg for her forgiveness. But I know that's not going to solve anything. So I'm going to do the adult thing to do and...I'm going to give her some space. And if she doesn't come back, well...I guess that's my fault, right?"

Kate sighed softly at that and walked over to her, squeezing her arm.

"Don't say that, Quinn. You made a mistake and you're trying to fix it. That's what matters. I'll lock up. You go wash up and get out of that dress. You look gorgeous, but I know you much prefer your damn sweatpants.", she chuckled lowly as Quinn gave a weak smile.

"I know it's still early, but you had a rough night and you have an early shift tomorrow. Go get some sleep, and try not to think about stuff too hard, okay? Everything happens for a reason, Q. And I know that everything's going to work out between you two. Don't worry."

Quinn stared at the water running into the sink as she listened to her roommate before she sighed heavily and closed the tap, drying her hands on a nearby towel.

"If you say so. Hey, maybe I'll wake up tomorrow morning and this will all have been a crazy dream. The date and all.", she said hopefully.

And with that, Quinn left her roommate in the kitchen and walked to her room, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

The last thing she saw before her eyes fluttered open the next morning, was the same thing she had seen the previous day.

Those eyes.

Those haunting, magnificent eyes.

Except that this time, she knew exactly who they belonged to.

_Rachel._

Just the thought of her immediately made all the memories from the previous night flood back into her mind and her heart sank as she lay in the middle of her bed, sheets twisted and tangled around her.

It had all been real.

Her dress was on the floor nearby. She remembered taking it off before crawling tiredly into her bed, replaying the events of the night over and over in her mind until she eventually tired herself out and fell asleep.

_Rachel had left. _

That was the only thought that was still circulating in her mind as she stared at her ceiling, sighing heavily.

When she had come home from the 'date', she had told Kate what had happened as well as her plans to find Rachel so she could mend things once and for all.

But her roommate had stopped that plan in its tracks and made the very valid point that maybe going after Rachel so soon wasn't the best idea, and that it might just serve to compromise their non-existent relationship even more.

So she hadn't done anything.

Yet.

Yeah, she had agreed to give Rachel some space. But she wasn't going to have her out of her life again. Which is why she had made the decision that if she didn't hear from Rachel by the end of the week, then she would find her herself.

Everything else be damned.

After a few more seconds of pointlessly staring at her ceiling, Quinn sighed heavily as her alarm began to ring, signaling that she had to get ready for another day of work.

She had no idea how she was going to face all of her patients and try to be as cheerful as possible for them when she was anything but.

Moments later, as she stepped into the shower, Quinn briefly wondered if someone somewhere had the capacity to build a time machine.

Because if so, she would definitely use one right now to go back in time and slap her younger self before telling her to not waste her time and tell Rachel about her feelings before it was too damn late.

Then maybe she wouldn't be in this predicament.

One could only hope.

Fifteen minutes later, she was out and dressed in her signature blue scrubs and towel drying her hair, trying to think of anything else but her meeting with Rachel.

She figured that not thinking about it would quell the anxiety and panic that bubbled up inside of her every time it crossed her mind.

So far, it wasn't working.

After she had dried her hair and put on some moisturizer, some chapstick and her glasses, she made her way out to the kitchen for her morning coffee.

As per usual, Kate was still in bed.

But she had left a note on the counter.

_Breathe, Q. Everything's going to work out. You'll see. Just have hope...and stop pulling dumb shit. It'll work out in the end. -K_

Quinn managed a small smile. Yes, no more 'dumb shit' would be an excellent idea, seeing as dumb shit is what had caused all of this in the first place.

She just hoped that Kate was right about things working out with Rachel.

She folded the note and slipped it into the pocket of her cardigan before making herself some coffee to go.

Maybe work was the solution to keeping her mind off of things.

After all, she loved her job. Ever since she had started med school, taking care of people had been her passion and what she lived for. She loved having the ability to change or save someone's life. It made her feel like she had a purpose in the world. Even if other areas of her life were lacking, she knew that she always had her patients and the hospital to keep her happy and motivated.

Those children were her everything.

And with that in mind, she tried to keep a smile on her face as she made her way to work.

* * *

To her relief, getting into the swing of things had been easy as soon as she had stepped foot into the hospital.

As soon as she had stepped off the elevator, one of the nurses had slipped a chart into her hand and began briefing her on a six year old girl named Violet who had been brought in because she had been having trouble getting over a particularly nasty case of the flu and her parents were worried about her.

After a checkup and prescribing the antibiotics she knew would do the trick, the girl had insisted that the blonde doctor sit and color with her for a while.

So she did. And had the chance to color a cute giraffe.

Until she was called to her next patient.

So it was safe to say that she was able to keep her mind off of a certain brunette and when lunch time rolled around, she was a bit less tense and distressed as she plopped down in her office chair for lunch with the tacos she had gotten from the cafeteria.

She had just taken a big bite of the first one (she was starving) before the phone on her desk buzzed and one of the nurses' voice came through the speaker.

"Dr. Fabray?"

"Mmph,yeah?", Quinn said through a mouth of food, hurrying to swallow and wincing when the taco shells scraped against her throat. _Ouch. _

"There's someone here to see you. Should I send them in?"

Quinn raised an eyebrow and quickly wiped her mouth, brushing a couple of crumbs off of her scrubs.

"Uh, yeah sure...", she said as she wondered who would be visiting her at work on her lunch hour.

She rarely got visitors at work. Mostly because of her insanely busy schedule. The last person who had come to see her while she was on the job was Kate, and that was only because she had broken her toe at a dance audition and after getting it checked out on the general care floor, had come down to the pediatrics floor to have lunch with her.

She spent a few seconds tidying up her desk before there was a knock at her door and it slowly opened.

"You have no idea how hard it was to track you down...", the voice said as the door closed with a click.

Quinn's head snapped up so fast that it hurt her neck. Her eyes widened comically as she saw who had just stepped into her office. She couldn't believe it.

Her heart was thudding rapidly in her chest.

"I know that leaving you at the restaurant last night wasn't the most mature thing to do, and I apologize. It was just hard for me to process everything and I didn't know what else to do. I'm sorry. It was just too much for me. Can we talk?", the brunette asked quietly.

But Quinn just sat there in shock, unblinking, with sauce on the corner of her mouth.

Rachel was in her office.

And Rachel wanted to talk.

_Don't screw it up again, Fabray. _

* * *

_xxx_

Quinn needs to catch a break. Now what is this talk going to lead to? Think she can get Rachel's forgiveness, or will the brunette hold out on forgiving her for a bit longer?

Next chapter, we'll see Rachel's POV from the moment she walked out of the restaurant until she walked into Quinn's office, and how she processed things.

How do you think she tracked her down?

Please be kind and review.

Stay tuned for more!

xxx


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer**: Original Glee characters belong to the creators, everyone else is mine unless stated otherwise.

Starting to think this website hates me. It wouldn't let me upload yesterday,which isn't the first time this happens...

Anyway, sorry for keeping you guys waiting!

* * *

_The previous evening. _

As soon as Rachel had stepped foot out of the bistro, she immediately considered walking back in, knowing that she had probably left the blonde in a state of shock for just walking out like that.

But she couldn't.

Because if Rachel Berry had something, it was her pride.

And she wasn't about to march back in there.

Even if she might have overreacted.

She had, hadn't she?

Walking out on Quinn after seven years of not seeing each other was a bit harsh, wasn't it?

But Quinn had also walked out on their friendship.

And she still hadn't forgiven her for that, despite the blonde explaining why she had left.

She wasn't ready to forgive yet, because she didn't think Quinn knew just how much the blonde leaving had hurt her.

And then the woman had basically tried to blame her for apparently breaking her heart because Quinn had walked in on her kissing a guy?

She couldn't take it.

She was angry.

Angry at Quinn for trying to put the blame for their nonexistent friendship on her.

Angry at Quinn for not talking to her about her so called feelings back in college so they could work things out together instead of having the blonde shut her out altogether.

And angry at her for deciding that the best solution to her problems was to leave and not contact her for seven years, leaving them to run into each other again by chance on a freaking blind date of all places!

God, she was furious.

It had been too much for her mind to handle so she had walked out, out into the crisp night air which she inhaled sharply, trying to clear her thoughts.

Who the hell did Quinn think she was!?

It's not like Rachel was a fucking psychic that could have magically figured out Quinn's problems.

The blonde didn't say anything to her, she just stopped talking to her.

Stop answering her emails, her calls, her texts.

Her Skype calls.

Her Facebook messages.

She had even tried sending her an actual letter!

But Quinn just ignored her.

For a while, Rachel just assumed the blonde was going through some kind of phase. After all, when they had left Lima, they had promised each other a long awaited friendship.

She told herself that the girl was just going through some stuff and needed some space.

So she gave her that, hoping that she would get her friend back soon.

But a couple of weeks turned into a month of no communication, and despite her efforts, she still wasn't getting anything from the blonde.

So she stopped trying because everything kept going unanswered and she didn't understand why.

Eventually a month turned into six, then six months turned into a year. Then two, then three...

Then seven years later she was finally learning that all her pain and heartache over the years from losing someone she cared deeply about was because said person was struggling with hidden feelings for her?

Too much.

It was all too much.

She felt tears well up in her eyes as her mind recalled the past few years. In the beginning, there had been a lot of sleepless nights and tears spilled onto her pillow, wondering what she had done wrong for the blonde not to want her friendship anymore.

She kept replaying the times they hung out over and over in her head, trying to figure out if she had said or done something to push Quinn away.

But then as the years started piling up, she learned to bottle up all that hurt and push Quinn out of her mind completely, figuring that doing so would cause her less pain if she just pretended that Quinn never existed.

It worked... sort of.

But every now and then something happened to remind her of the blonde she had once been looking forward to building an amazing friendship with, and her heart ached.

And tonight? Seeing her in the flesh just served to bring back all that pain tenfold.

Sure a part of her was thrilled to see the blonde, delighted even.

Because isn't that what she had been wanting all those years? To finally see Quinn again and talk to her?

But there was a bigger part, the heartbroken part, that had filled her with anger and had made her walk out of the restaurant despite Quinn being in tears in front of her.

It was a harsh move.

But for now, it had to be done. After hearing everything Quinn had to say, she needed some space of her own this time.

To let everything sink in and to decide if she was going to talk to her again.

Quinn had feelings for her...

After all these years, Quinn had feelings for her...

"Fucking hell...",she mumbled to herself as she shook her head and began to make her way to her apartment, by foot because she didn't live far and was in need of the fresh air to clear her mind.

This was definitely not how Rachel had expected her date to end.

In her mind, she had pictured meeting a beautiful woman (well, she assumed she would be beautiful), enjoy a nice dinner, maybe split a bottle of wine, talk about their careers, laugh, flirt...

And maybe if she was lucky, she would get her number and they would hit it off.

Maybe she would finally go on a date that wasn't a complete and utter disaster.

Well, at least she got one thing right...

Her date was certainly beautiful.

That was one thing she couldn't deny, no matter how angry she was at Quinn.

The blonde was absolutely gorgeous. It's like she had gotten even more beautiful since the last time she had seen her. The years had been extremely good to Quinn Fabray. She had grown into herself and matured, looking as radiant as ever.

If it hadn't been for her anger, she would have spent a great part of the date just gawking at her and swooning over her old Hollywood-esque beauty.

Despite it, the image of the blonde, all hazel hues and wispy blonde hair kept popping into her mind every five seconds.

And with it came another image of her, golden eyes filled with tears, brow creased and bottom lip nearly quivering as she spilled her guts to the brunette, trying to get her to understand why she did what she had done.

Trying to ask for forgiveness.

But Rachel hadn't forgiven her. Not yet, at least.

She knew that she would...Eventually.

Maybe.

After all, this was Quinn they were talking about. The one person that Rachel had cared for with all of her heart since the day they had met when Quinn walked down the halls of McKinley High School in a red Cheerios outfit, trying to act like she was tough as nails as she stood on top of the world.

And then soon after became Rachel's world.

Not that she had admitted it at the time.

It had started out as admiration and fondness. But that soon grew into something deeper, something more meaningful and then-...

Well, let's just say that deep down, even though she didn't want to admit it just yet, she would forgive Quinn.

Maybe not tonight, because she still needed the time to process everything, but eventually.

Because Quinn was Quinn, and despite the pain the blonde had caused her by leaving, she was still aching to have her back in her life.

Her whole mind was a mess, really.

Stuck between wanting to forgive and wanting to push away.

Pain and love dueling it out inside of her.

_I was in love with you... _

_I was in love with you... _

_I was in love with you... _

The words kept echoing in her mind.

Quinn's words.

She never thought she would hear them. Never thought they would be true. After all, she had been known as the annoying, tiny Jewish girl who liked to sing and wore animal sweaters. And Quinn was the pretty blonde cheerleader whom everyone fawned over.

But it was all true, and as she walked into her apartment building a few minutes later, she couldn't help but wonder one thing.

_Was the love still there?_

That question alone is what made up her mind.

She needed to see Quinn again.

Maybe not to forgive her, but to find out that if after seven years, Quinn Fabray still loved her. If it was possible, or if the love had faded out.

There was only one problem.

How the hell was she going to get a hold of her again?

* * *

The next morning, Rachel got up at 8 am. Even if she had the day off.

She couldn't stay in bed any longer.

The night before, her mind was too crowded to think properly or even come up with a way to track down Quinn in the vast city that was New York, so after a quick shower and a mug of herbal tea, she had gone straight to bed.

Despite it being still relatively earlier than her usual bed time these days.

The events of the day had been too much for her and she had been thoroughly exhausted.

Besides, she figured that sleep would help clear her mind.

And it did.

Sort of.

Not really...

She was definitely still upset when she woke up, but she was also dying to know if Quinn still had feelings for her after all this time.

_You shouldn't forgive her this easily... What she did to you was horrible. She had no reason to shut you out like that, even if she was dealing with her feelings for you..._

"I'm not forgiving her.",she said out loud to herself as she slipped out of bed, huffing softly.

And she wasn't. Yes, she understood that Quinn needed some time away from her to figure out her sexuality as well as her feelings. It would have been nice if she had gotten a heads up beforehand but still, she understood and could get passed that part.

Self discoveries were a tricky concept.

It was still the going seven years without talking to her and telling her about the feelings after figuring them out that was still bothering her to no end.

Quinn was going to have to find a good way to make up for it if she wanted forgiveness for that.

Regardless, she needed to find the blonde. She didn't know why, but she had to find out if Quinn loving her was just a temporary thing or if it had lasted through the years despite them not seeing each other.

The question was nagging at her mind insistently.

And depending on the answer, it might help her forgive her.

Or piss her off even more.

And the worst part was, she didn't even know what answer would do which.

Why couldn't she have had a normal date for once in her life?

No, of course not. God had to send her a ghost from her past instead.

Shaking her head to herself, the brunette paced around her empty apartment. It was a good thing she lived alone because she could do things like this.

Walk around muttering to herself without coming off as a total lunatic.

She was trying to find a way to locate the blonde and fast, before she changed her mind and decided she no longer wanted to see her ever again.

Rachel was like that. She tended to change her mind quickly.

Wait!

"A-ha!",she said to herself, throwing her hands up as she grabbed her phone.

Last night, during bouts of apologies and tears, Quinn had mentioned working at the hospital.

So she would just go to the hospital and find her so she could talk to her and get it over with before going on with her life.

_Eureka. _

But there was only one problem...

There were dozens of hospitals in New York.

She huffed softly and slumped her shoulders as she tapped her phone on the counter absently.

She had tried texting her friend who had set up the date, but she hadn't answered her back yet and Rachel was getting rather impatient, even if she knew that her friend was probably still fast asleep considering the time and the fact that she had most likely gone out to a club the previous night, as always.

But then, after a few minutes of just staring off into space lost in thought, it finally hit her. The solution. There was one person who _had _to know where Quinn was. One person who was connected to Quinn no matter what because of a certain special bond they had over one common thing.

Of course! Why hadn't she thought of this before!?

In a hurry, she unlocked her phone and quickly scrolled down her extensive contact list until she found the right number and clicked on it.

They hadn't exactly had the chance to talk in quite a while, but it was worth a-...

"What's up my Jewish American Princess? It's kind of early, you know.", came the voice on the end of the line and Rachel couldn't help but sigh in relief.

He had answered on the second ring, like he always did, despite it being only a little after 8:30 am.

"Noah...",she said with a smile as she switched her phone to her other ear and walked towards her bedroom where it was more quiet than the kitchen, which was next to the street and filtered in the sound of the traffic.

"You haven't called in a while, princess. I was starting to worry about you. What happened to Jews stick together, hm?"

She could practically hear the playful pout in his voice and couldn't help but chuckle lowly, shaking her head in amusement before she sighed deeply.

"I'm sorry. You know how hectic my life is. The stage is practically taking up all of my time now. I haven't had much time for friends...But I do miss you, Noah.",she said sincerely, clearing her throat. "If you're ever in town, we should go to dinner or something."

The sound of his soft laugh made her feel like she was back in high school again, back in Lima. And she couldn't help the grin that appeared on her face.

It always felt good to hear the familiar sound.

"Dinner sounds good, babe. But I have a feeling that dinner isn't why you called, am I right?",he asked curiously.

Rachel felt her cheeks turn pink as she sat down on the edge of the bed and shook her head, even though he couldn't see her.

"I need your help... locating someone. And I know you know where she is.",she began softly.

There was a pause before Noah cleared his throat.

"You're looking for Q, huh?"

Rachel nodded, chewing on her bottom lip.

"I figured that you'd know... I mean, I know you two broke up a long time ago, but you two had a child together and I know how much you care about Quinn. So I figured you'd always be keeping tabs on her no matter what."

There was another pause and she could hear papers shuffling around on the end of the line, making her raise her brows curiously.

Finally, Noah came back on.

"She works at the Lincoln Medical Center. She's a pediatrician. You know like those awesome doctors who help save little kids? Quinn does that.", he said softly and she could hear the pride in his voice when he did.

A small smile appeared on her lips. She always knew that Quinn would end up doing something like saving lives and being a real life superhero. She was proud of Quinn too, on top of all the hurt and anger.

She quickly wrote down the name of the hospital so she could Google it later.

"Thanks, Noah. You're a big help. Give me a call next time you're in the city, we really need to catch up."

"We do, but... I was just wondering. Why are you looking for Quinn, Rach? I mean, I thought you guys didn't talk anymore. That's what you told me, at least."

Rachel sighed heavily and ran a hand through her hair.

"We didn't.",she said simply.

"But...?"

"But last night we went on a-...We ran into each other. And she told me why she walked out of my life. I got upset, and I couldn't handle all of it, so I walked out... But now I need to find her. There's something I need to ask her and maybe the answer she'll give is going to help me forgive her."

"And what question is that, Rach?",he asked curiously.

She bit her lip and swallowed lightly, picking at a loose thread in her comforter.

"I need to know if she never stopped loving me."

* * *

After her conversation with Noah that morning, she had gone on one of her usual runs to clear her mind and help her think of a game plan.

What was she going to do? Just waltz into Quinn's office and ask her if she still loved her even though she got mad at her last night and left Quinn in tears at a restaurant?

Basically.

She didn't really have any other plan, and besides, she was upset that night. It might not have been the best reaction, but Quinn was in no position to judge her.

She was lucky she hadn't walked out the moment the blonde had walked into the restaurant.

She almost decided to jog to the hospital, but decided against showing up there a sweaty mess.

It's not like Quinn deserved to see her all dressed up and looking nice, but...She was Rachel Berry. She got dressed up for the mailman. She liked making good impressions.

So when she got home, she took a quick shower and put on one of her favorite simple white dresses, the kind that stopped mid thigh.

That was totally appropriate for a hospital, right?

She had straightened her hair and only put on minimal makeup. She didn't want Quinn to think she was trying to impress her or anything.

Because she wasn't. She was only going there to talk, because Rachel was a decent human being and maybe, just maybe she felt a bit guilty for her dramatic exit the previous night.

Even if she shouldn't. There would have been no dramatic exit if Quinn hadn't just shut her out for seven freaking years!

_Admit it, Rachel. You want to see her again, you can't stop thinking about her._

"That is not true!",she said out loud to her inner voice, feeling herself blush.

Okay, maybe it was true. She had been thinking about Quinn.

But it was totally in the 'you piss me off so I can't get you out of my mind' kind of way.

Not the 'my broken heart still aches for you and even though I'm mad, I'm still dying to see you' way.

Right...? Right.

_Keep telling yourself that... _

She huffed softly and glared at herself in the mirror. God, all of this was one big...mind fuck. She was stuck between being mad at Quinn for what she did to her, while also wanting to see her because she had missed her so much.

Maybe she would have been better off if Quinn had never turned back up in the first place...

At least then her heart wouldn't feel like it had just been through a tornado and she wouldn't have a headache.

Sighing heavily to herself, she walked out the door before she had a chance to chicken out.

The hospital was a few blocks away and she was in heels, so she called a cab because with her luck she'd snap a heel and end up falling on her face somewhere and the last thing she wanted was to show up to Quinn's work place with a face full of blood and sidewalk grit.

Although, it _was_ a hospital.

She remained silent for most of the cab ride, which was unusual for her because she usually liked to chat with the driver and ask them about their day, knowing it made them happy to talk about their families and their children.

But today, she was off in her own little world, thinking about her upcoming confrontation with Quinn and what she would say to her.

She had no idea.

When they stopped in front of the hospital, she looked out at the large establishment and took a deep breath.

"Okay, you can do this. It's just Quinn...",she whispered to herself.

_Just Quinn who promised to keep in touch and then didn't talk to you for seven years... _

Oh shut up.

She paid the driver and gave him a polite smile before she slipped out of the cab and closed the door before her drove off.

She smoothed down her dress before she walked in and then stopped a few feet passed the entrance way when she realized she had no idea where she was going.

Okay, Rachel. Don't flail. Oh look, a reception desk!

Clearing her throat, she put on her best Broadway smile and walked over to the four secretaries who were in charge of reception, but were huddled around and talking.

"Excuse me?",she asked softly.

One of them, a middle aged woman, looked up at her and her eyes immediately widened in surprise and recognition.

"Oh my god, aren't you-..."

"Yes.", Rachel cut in quickly, smiling politely. As much as she liked talking to fans, she really didn't have time for this. Not when she was two minutes away from walking right back out the door and pretending the previous twenty four hours had never happened.

"What do you need, Miss Berry?",a younger woman asked timidly, obviously recognizing her as well.

Rachel smiled softly at that, she didn't want to seem rude. She was just nervous.

"I need to know where I could find Quinn-...Doctor Quinn. Fabray."

Their eyes all lit up at once and Rachel quirked her brows up curiously.

"Oh Doctor Fabray is just wonderful. Best attending we have.", one of the girls, a brunette about her age, gushed.

And okay, yeah. Rachel wasn't all too surprised at that. Quinn was always the best in everything she did, so excelling in the medical department didn't come as a shock to her.

"She's on the fourth floor. I think she should be taking her lunch soon.", the brunette added.

But before she even had time to finish her sentence, Rachel was off.

And yes, she was trying to run in heels in a hospital.

People were probably thinking she was insane, but she didn't even care. She found the nearest elevator and slipped into it, pressing the button for the fourth floor.

Now one may wonder why Rachel Berry was running to see the girl who had hurt her more than anyone else she knew, the very girl whom she had walked out on the previous night, but Rachel had a very good reason for why she was in a hurry.

She still had that one question tugging at her heart. She didn't know why. It shouldn't matter if Quinn still loved her or not, she had still left and never came back. So why should she even care about something as trivial as that?

But god dammit, she wanted to know.

As the elevator rose to the fourth floor, she was a jittery mess because in a few minutes, she'd see Quinn.

But when the doors finally opened onto the fourth floor, she did her best to appear calm and collected, taking a deep breath before she stepped out into the pediatrics department.

This is where Quinn made a living and saved lives.

She took it all in as she looked around.

It was kind of spectacular.

Where the rest of the hospital was painted in neutral, boring colors, the pediatrics department was bright and colorful. With murals of superheroes and cartoon characters painted on the wall.

Like they were trying to make a sick child feel better about being in the hospital.

She didn't have to ask to know that Quinn loved her job. She knew that Quinn had always loved kids.

She realized she was just standing in the middle of the hall like an idiot, so she walked over to a tall man with sandy blonde in blue scrubs and a white lab coat standing nearby. He looked like a doctor.

"Excuse me, sir?",she asked politely, smiling up at him when he turned to look at her.

"I'm looking for Quinn Fabray?"

He quirked a brow at her and looked her up and down. "Are you a patient?",he asked curiously.

Rachel immediately narrowed her eyes at him,her brows creasing into a brown. Seriously? Okay, she wasn't_ that_ tiny!

He must have sensed that he had offended her so he quickly cleared his throat and offered her an apologetic smile.

"I'll tell one of the nurses to let her know she has a visitor.",he said before he walked off and grabbed a chart at the nurses' station and pointed to her as he presumably told the nurse to page Quinn.

A moment later, he came back and pointed down the hall.

"Down the hall to the left. Her name is on the door."

Rachel gave him a brief smile before she made her way towards Quinn's office, her heels clicking on the linoleum floor. As she approached the blonde's office, her heart began to race and as she stopped in front of the door, she took a deep breath.

If it would have been anybody else, Rachel would have waited more than a week before trying to establish contact again, maybe longer.

But this was Quinn, and no matter how upset she was, she couldn't even go twenty four hours without tracking her down, now that she knew she was in the city and could easily find her.

It was kind of ridiculous, really. And totally defeated the purpose of a dramatic storm out. But whatever.

She reached forward and knocked on the door before she slowly opened it and slipped inside, her gaze immediately landing on the blonde doctor, clad in the standard blue scrubs.

She looked gorgeous, even in hospital attire. Which so wasn't fair.

"You have no idea how hard it was to track you down...", she said as she closed the door behind her.

Okay, that wasn't exactly true. She had tried to contact her friend and when she hadn't texted her back, she had called Noah, knowing that if anyone knew where Quinn was, it was him.

But still.

She leaned against the door and watched as the blonde's head snapped up and her eyes widened in surprise. It was obvious in her reaction that Quinn thought she would never see her again, or at least for a while.

And that made her feel just the tiniest bit guilty...

"I know that leaving you at the restaurant last night wasn't the most mature thing to do, and I apologize. It was just hard for me to process everything and I didn't know what else to do. I'm sorry. It was just too much for me. Can we talk?",she asked quietly.

But Quinn didn't say anything. She didn't even move. She just sat there, staring at her in shock.

Finally, Rachel heaved a deep sigh and walked over to her desk, picking up a tissue and handing it to her.

"You have sauce on your lip, Quinn."

* * *

That seemed to make the blonde snap out of her daze and she cleared her throat as she took the tissue from her and wiped her mouth.

She couldn't believe that Rachel was actually here.

She had been trying to work out a plan to find the brunette again so she could apologize and most likely grovel at her feet for being the biggest jerk on the planet, but somehow... for some reason... Rachel had come to her.

She had walked away from her at the restaurant (which she totally deserved, for the record) and now she was back and standing in her office.

Her head was spinning.

She quickly straightened up in her chair and brushed herself off, gesturing to the empty chair in front of her desk for Rachel to sit.

She watched as Rachel sat down, the woman watching her intently as she pulled herself together. She didn't really know what to say, since she hadn't exactly expected Rachel to show up like this. Especially not at the hospital.

It was strange, very strange.

She took a sip from the bottle of water on her desk so she could clear her throat before she finally met the brunette's eyes for the first time since they had parted ways the night before, and as always, Rachel's gaze made a plethora of old feelings bubble back to the surface so she immediately looked away, swallowing thickly.

There was silence for a whole minute, the only sound being that of Quinn's clock, that seemed to be ticking louder than it usually was.

Neither women knew what to say. And how could they after the semi-disaster that was last night?

Quinn had reappeared into Rachel's life, by accident, after years of not speaking to her, only to make it seem like everything had been Rachel's fault and not hers.

God,she was such a dick.

"Rachel...",she began softly as she looked back at her. But she didn't look at her eyes, she couldn't. Because that would just make her insides flutter again and at the moment, she needed it to stay still for once.

The brunette, who was looking at the plaques on Quinn's wall, particularly her med school degree, turned back towards her as if to say she had her attention.

"Before you say anything, I want to apologize to you.", Quinn murmured as she absently toyed with a paper clip on her desk.

"You apologized last night, Quinn.", Rachel said simply.

Quinn sighed heavily and ran a hand through her hair, nodding slightly.

"I know. I know. But I apologized for cutting you out of my life. Now I need to apologize for something different."

She watched as Rachel rose a curious brow at her and chewed on her bottom lip.

"I want to apologize for making it seem like me leaving was your fault, because it's not. And I'm sorry for putting the blame on you. That was a jerk move on my part and honestly, I don't hold it against you for walking out like that. I totally deserved it.",she mumbled sadly. "None of this is your fault,Rachel. And I hope you know that. You didn't break my heart, and I should have never said that you did. I broke my own heart by being such a coward and never having the courage to talk to you about my feelings. By the time I had finally gotten the guts to do something, you had found someone. But how can I be mad at you for that? You're an amazing girl, Rachel and anyone would be lucky to have you. But I let my feelings get in the way and I got upset, and stubborn, and I couldn't bring myself to swallow my pride and just come back to you and be your friend...I'm so sorry. So fucking sorry. But none of this is your fault and I never meant to blame you for it."

When she was done, she was out of breath so she inhaled sharply and looked away again, not wanting to see Rachel's reaction.

She knew the girl was still mad at her.

Hell, she didn't even know why she was here in the first place. She didn't exactly deserve to be forgiven after making promises that she couldn't keep. Her stubbornness and cowardliness had lost her one of the best friends she had ever had, all because she couldn't suck it up and admit her feelings.

For a while, there was silence again, and Quinn occupied herself by counting the ticks of the clock.

She had gotten to a full minute and thirty seconds before Rachel finally spoke, after mulling over what the blonde had just said.

"Quinn, first and foremost...I want you to know that I still care about you. A lot. I've cared about you since we met back in high school and despite the fact that you caused me a lot of pain, I never stopped caring about you.",she said softly.

Quinn's lips curved into a small smile at that. At least Rachel didn't hate her, right?

"But that being said, I'm going to need some time before I can forgive you. I acknowledge your apologies and I sincerely believe that you are sorry for what you did, so I will accept the apology. But what you did still isn't okay and I need you to understand that it's going to take a while before I can forgive you and trust you again."

Quinn's smile faded then and she felt a lump rise in her throat, which she swallowed hard to get rid of before sighing heavily as she nodded in understanding. She knew she couldn't just expect Rachel to forgive her right away.

Hell, she wouldn't be surprised if it took another seven years before that happened. But at least she had acknowledged her apology. That was something to consider, right?

"I get it.",she murmured softly, lightly drumming her fingers against her desk. "I don't deserve your forgiveness. Not yet. I know I have a lot of making up to do for the past seven years if I want you back in my life at some point, and I know it won't be easy. But I'm prepared to do whatever it takes.",she said sincerely.

Rachel raised both eyebrows at the blonde, watching her intently.

"You want me back in your life, Quinn? After all these years?"

Quinn looked up and made herself meet her eyes again, ignoring the flutter as she gave her a small smile.

"I think it's time for me to swallow my pride, Rachel. Seven years is too long to go without talking to you and I'm tired of it. I made mistakes and I'm willing to work hard to fix them. If you let me, of course. Now that you know how I felt back then, there's no use in going back into hiding."

Quinn leaned back in her seat as she watched Rachel and finally took the time to properly look her over, and God, she looked amazing. Maybe even more beautiful than last night since they were now in proper lighting and not the dimness of the restaurant.

For a moment, she couldn't help but let her gaze wander over Rachel's subtle curves, right down to the tanned legs that were crossed in front of her, until the woman cleared her throat and she looked back up at her, blushing faintly.

Now was not the time to check her out when she was still in the dog house.

Besides, she still didn't know exactly why Rachel was here. Had it just been to hear the blonde apologize for the millionth time?

"Quinn, I need to ask you something. It's something that's been on my mind since last night and... Actually, it's kind of why I came here. It probably doesn't matter, but..."

"What is it?", Quinn asked curiously as she rose a brow at her. She glanced at the clock and noticed that her lunch break was ending, but she had to know what Rachel needed to ask her.

And honestly, she was a bit worried.

Finally, she watched as the actress took a deep breath before looking straight into her eyes, and for some reason, time stood still for a fraction of a second.

It felt like an eternity before she heard the next loud tick of the clock.

"You said that you loved be, back in college. That that's what you figured out after you...gave yourself some space away from me. What I need to know is...Do you still love me, Quinn?",she asked barely above a whisper.

Quinn's eyes widened in surprise at the question, her mouth going dry. She hadn't expected Rachel to ask her that. Hell, she didn't even think the brunette cared about something like that. It's not like Rachel would ever love her back, right?

But she knew the answer to Rachel's question. Of course she did. She didn't even have to think about it.

_Do you still love me, Quinn? _

Licking her dry lips, Quinn gave her a smile. That smile that she had reserved for Rachel and only Rachel, all throughout high school and their brief time in college.

The 'I think you're the most spectacular person in the world' smile.

_Do you still love me, Quinn? _

"I've felt a lot of things in my life, Rachel. Lots of emotional pain...Physical pain as well. But I learned to deal with those. But the difference between the scars from that car crash senior year and my love for you? Over time, my scars began to fade. My love for you hasn't done that yet...",the blonde doctor admitted softly.

As her confession left her lips and hung in the air, two things happen.

The first was that Quinn's pager began to beep loudly, breaking the newly established silence in the room and signaling that she was needed to tend to a patient.

And the second was that Rachel Berry made a decision based on Quinn's words.

A decision that would determine if they'd part ways again and pretend like their entire interaction, including the dinner, had never happened.

Or if she would allow Quinn a chance to win back a spot in her life.

* * *

xxx

So what will it be? Do you think Rachel's going to give Quinn a chance?

I'm not exactly sure what the next chapter will consist of, but stay tuned!

Also,if anyone is reading Paradise City, I was supposed to update tonight but I'm going to a game and then sleeping over at a friend's house, so it'll be tomorrow instead!

Please be kind and review.

Sorry for the long wait.

xxx


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** Quinn and Rachel (and other mentioned glee members) belong to the Glee creators, everyone else is mine!

So, it's 4 am and I work a ten hour shift tomorrow... but I figured I would update cause it's been a while.

Enjoy!

* * *

Quinn still loved her.

She didn't know how it was possible... It had been seven years since they had seen each other or spoken a word to one another.

And yet, Quinn was telling her that nearly 2560 days later, she hadn't stopped loving her despite making herself walk away from their friendship?

It couldn't be true. Not after all that time.

But the look in Quinn's gorgeous golden eyes, the pure admiration and fondness that shone in them every time their gaze locked onto one another told her that what Quinn was saying was absolutely true.

She had realized that she loved her seven years ago while they were in college, and now they were adults with different lives and actual careers and Quinn had the chance to fall in love so many times over the years, and yet she still hung on to the feelings she had for her?

Quinn could have anyone in the world.

_Anyone. _

She looked like a damn goddess and saved children for a living!

Who wouldn't swoon for Quinn Fabray?

But Quinn loved_ her._

She loved her then and she loved her now and honestly, that was even more difficult to process.

How was she even supposed to feel about this?

On one hand, Quinn's admission had made her feel all giddy and fluttery inside and a part of her felt like her heart was going to burst at the blonde's words.

But on the other hand, she didn't understand how Quinn could love her for so long and yet decide to stay away despite it.

For a brief moment, it made all that pain and anger flood right back and for a second, she tensed, staring at the blonde without knowing what to say.

But then she remembered how once upon a time, she had been going to sleep at night wishing that a miracle would happen and that Quinn Fabray, the most beautiful girl she had ever laid eyes on, would magically fall for her the way she suddenly had when she was a fifteen year old nobody watching her glide down the halls in her Cheerios outfit.

Little did she know, the blonde had done exactly what she had wished for, but had decided to keep her feelings inside which ultimately left their budding friendship dissolving into nothing because of Quinn's fears and inner turmoil as she tried to come to terms with her own feelings.

If only Quinn had said something during one of those nights where they would hang out in her apartment, alone, curled up on the couch watching movie marathons or reruns of _Friends._

It would have been so damn easy.

"_Rachel, I think I have feelings for you..."_

_"__I have feelings for you too, Quinn._..."

Bam. Simple.

But simple was reserved for predictable and cheesy rom-coms where you just know that the guy is going to get the girl in the end, no matter what may happen with the plot. They always got the girl in the end.

But this was real life, and the only thing simple about real life was knowing that nothing was actually simple. Not at all.

And getting the girl wasn't really that easy.

But now all those midnight wishes were suddenly coming true and the words she had been waiting years to hear had finally made it into the air and were now swirling around in her mind.

Quinn didn't just love her in college.

Quinn loved her now.

She didn't know how that was possible, but it was.

And despite the fact that she had been harboring pain and betrayal and heartache ever since Quinn basically gave up on whatever they had, just the simple fact that the woman still managed to keep loving her was enough to make her come to a decision.

She wasn't going to walk away from Quinn Fabray and in turn possibly hurt her just like she had done to her.

She couldn't do that.

She couldn't _not_ see Quinn again.

Not now that she knew about all these hidden feelings, no.

She was going to stay, and allow Quinn something that she had once told herself that she would never give because of how angry she was.

A chance.

She would allow Quinn one change to show her that she was serious about wanting to come back into her life and that she was willing to work to regain Rachel's trust.

It would take a while, because seven years was a long time to build up an ocean's worth of heartache, and she wanted to find out if Quinn's supposed love for her could make that heartache disappear once and for all so she could finally forgive her and put her trust back into one of the people that she had cared about the most in her life, past and present.

Yes, she still cared about Quinn. Way more than she wanted to admit.

_Because you love her too... _

But she wasn't ready to talk about that yet, not with Quinn.

She felt like it wasn't the right moment to bring it up. She wanted to begin with allowing Quinn a second chance first and to see where that would bring them before she delved into her own feelings.

After all, she had never told anyone about those...

And the more she thought about it, the more she regretted not having the guts to mention it back in college.

Maybe it would have helped Quinn deal with her own emotions and then she wouldn't have lost her for so long...

But there wasn't any use in dwelling on the past now.

The best thing for them if they wanted to try and fix what had crumbled was to focus on the future and try to move on.

It was decided.

She would put herself on the line and allow Quinn another chance.

She just hoped that it wouldn't end up with her getting hurt all over again.

After all, she didn't know if the undeniable chemistry they had back then, even as friends, would still stand today?

What if Quinn was only in love with the old Rachel? The eighteen year old college Rachel?

What if those feelings went away when she got to know the new, grown up, Broadway star Rachel? Would everything change?

She'd just have to wait and find out.

But just as she mentally decided that she would allow Quinn one (and only one) chance at trying to rebuild what they had started after graduating high school, the blonde's pager had started beeping loudly.

And Rachel knew what that meant.

They were in a hospital after all.

She didn't really have time to tell the blonde that she was going to let her try and make it up to her.

Make up seven years of absence.

She didn't have time to say anything because Quinn was scrambling to her feet and slipping her lab coat back on.

Inside out.

"Quinn, your-...",she gestured to the white lab coat as she slowly stood from her chair.

She momentarily cursed the fact that they were interrupted by the pager, because there were a lot of things that Rachel wanted to say.

Like the terms and conditions that came with a Rachel Berry provided second chance.

Which included no screwing up or getting scared and running off for another several years without any form of communication.

But she knew that Quinn had a demanding job.

She had to save children for scary diseases on a daily basis.

Quinn was a fucking superhero and she couldn't help but swoon at that.

A doctor.

Funny enough, when she had been ten years old, she had these fantasies of growing up to be famous and marrying some hotshot doctor that she would meet in New York City and fall in love with, and they would live in a big mansion and have four children and-...

What was she thinking about again?

_Oh yeah, marrying Quinn the doctor... _

What!? No. That was definitely not what she was thinking about. She hadn't even told her that she was willing to give her a second chance yet. She wasn't going to marry Quinn! They hadn't even established themselves as friends yet and it's not like their relationship would progress farther than that, right...?

Yes, they might share the same...feelings.

But they couldn't act on them.

No. Nope. Nuh uh.

It was too late for that. They would have to settle for friendship and that was it. They couldn't go past that and explore some sort of relationship...

Besides, she didn't trust Quinn.

She hadn't even forgiven Quinn.

Not yet, at least.

And it would take a while. A long while.

Weeks, maybe months... Maybe a year or two. Rachel wasn't someone who trusted easily. Not when she had been hurt so much in the past. She tended to keep a few walls up nowadays, just like Quinn had done for most of her life.

Except her own walls were probably made of plaster and cardboard whereas the walls that Quinn had put up around herself while they were teenagers were solid concrete.

But she had managed to chip away at a few of them when they had tried out the whole friendship thing during and after senior year.

And the Quinn behind the walls had made her fall even more.

But she had kept that to herself as well...

"Rach, I'm really sorry to have to cut this short but I have to go. It could be an emergency.", the blonde said as she turned her lab coat outside in and slipped it back on as she looked around with furrowed brows.

"Fuck, have you seen my stethoscope?"

Rachel snapped out of her inner thoughts and glanced around, spotting the instrument on the floor beside the desk. It had probably gotten knocked down somehow.

Sighing softly, she bent down and picked it up before stepping up to the blonde and gently draping it over her neck.

She could tell that Quinn was blushing at the gesture.

Her pale cheeks were now a rosy pink.

* * *

"Thanks...",the blonde muttered, suddenly remembering what she had admitted to the brunette just moments ago before they had been interrupted by the pager.

That she hadn't stopped loving her despite how she had been such a coward and decided to walk away from her instead of dealing with her feelings and the fact that she might have been too late and just fucking admitting things to Rachel like a grown woman instead of acting like a big baby like she had done.

And then being too ashamed and scared to try and enter Rachel's life again for fear that the brunette now hated her and wanted nothing to do with her.

Hell, before yesterday she thought that Rachel was probably married with kids by now, living in a nice penthouse apartment that over looked the city, having completely forgotten about her existence.

But considering that fact that they had been set up together on a date, she could safely assume that Rachel was very much single.

And that she still thought about her.

Which obviously delighted her, but it's not like she could do anything about it. Rachel didn't trust her. She hadn't even forgiven her yet.

But at least she had accepted her apology. Which was step number one.

But yes, she did love Rachel after all these years.

How could she not?

Obviously she had tried to move on. She really had. Because holding on to those feelings weren't exactly healthy.

But Rachel had been the first person who had made her feel something.

_Really _feel.

Of course she had cared about other people. She had cared about Puck, deeply so. But that wasn't the same. Yes, she loved him, a lot, but over the years she had realized that she loved him like a brother and a protector, someone who could be there for her in times of need.

She didn't love him to the point where he infiltrated her dreams every night.

Like Rachel had done.

The more time she had spent around Rachel in the real world, the more the brunette had a presence in her dreams.

Rachel's smile alone had sunk an anchor into her heart and absolutely hooked her.

And no one had ever cared about her the way Rachel had. No matter how she might have acted in high school, no matter how high her walls were and no matter how hard she tried to keep everyone out, Rachel was always there.

Showing her that she cared. Not backing off and pushing her to be the best that she could be despite wanting to give up from time to time.

Rachel had kept her from making so many mistakes.

Rachel had inspired her to clean up her act when she had lost her way during senior year and joined the Skanks.

Rachel had made her feel like she was good enough to apply to one of the country's best schools.

And she had gotten in.

If it wasn't for Rachel's support and constant belief in her when she felt like no one else gave a shit, she might have never gotten to where she was now.

Without Rachel, she probably wouldn't be doctor Quinn Fabray.

She would still be in Lima, in the closet most likely, married to a man that worked some 9 to 5 job at some kind of office while she followed in her mother's footsteps and became a real estate agent.

She would be a Lima loser, because she didn't believe that life had more to offer her.

But Rachel had proved that wrong. She had proved everything wrong.

And now here she was, with a beeping pager in hand because she had to go to the rescue of one of her patients.

She was living the absolute dream.

How could she ever stop loving Rachel for all of that?

Hell, she would probably love Rachel for the rest of her life because of everything she had given her.

_That's _why she had held on to those feelings all of those years.

And now that Rachel knew about that, she had the choice between walking away and never looking back, or allowing her the chance to work for her trust again and earn her spot in Rachel's life.

As her friend.

Because that's all she could have. For now.

As Rachel put her stethoscope around her neck, or as she liked to call it; her magic wand, she felt her cheeks heat up as she watched Rachel intently.

"So...Am I going to have the chance to talk to you again? Or are you so freaked out and mad at me that you never want to see my face ever again? Because I would totally understand it if that was the case. I mean, I know I hurt you a lot and you have every right to be mad at me. You can be mad at me until we're old ladies walking around with canes and I wouldn't hold it against you. What I did to you was unacceptable and cowardly and stupid... and now I just dropped this bomb on you and-...You can walk away right now and I'll totally understand. I deserve that. What I don't deserve is to have you in my life because I've been such an ass, but god, I really want to be able to talk to you again and see you because seven years is too fucking long and I'm tired of being too scared to try and come back, and-..."

She was rambling now. And her pager was going off again.

"Quinn, stop. Just stop, okay?", Rachel cut in and she could feel tiny hands pressing against her back and pushing her towards the door.

The staff was probably wondering where the hell she was but she couldn't help it. She didn't want to walk out the door if there was a possibility that this was her last encounter with Rachel.

"Go save lives, Quinn. Go be a superhero. And...go make me proud.", Rachel murmured softly as she opened the door for her.

Quinn could feel her cheeks heating up again as she whirled around in the doorway to look at her, her heart beating fast as she chewed her bottom lip worriedly.

"But what about you? What's going to happen, Rach? I need to know if I'm never going to see you again, because...I know it's a lot to take in and I'm sorry for that, and for everything, but I love you and I don't want to stay in the shadows anymore. I want you to trust me again...I want to be a part of what's probably some spectacular life that you have now. I want to get to know you all over again...If you let me.",she murmured softly.

They were paging her over the intercom now.

But she was still lingering in the doorway.

She watched as a small smile appeared on the brunette's lips and that was enough to raise her hopes but then Rachel looked at her sternly and have her a gentle push out the door.

"Call me tonight. These kids need Superwoman and right now, Superwoman's stalling."

And with that, Quinn felt herself being pulled down the hall towards one of the rooms, where apparently a little girl had been brought in fifteen minutes ago after she had a sudden seizure while at kindergarten.

Quinn didn't know if she was getting a second chance or not, because like always she was being swept away by work.

But Rachel had told her to call her... that was something, right?

She hung on to that tiny bit of hope while she did what she does best.

Being a kick ass doctor.

And for the rest of the day, there was a special spring in her step.

Because for the first time in seven years, she was on her way to fixing one of the biggest mistakes of her life; walking out on the one person who had never given up hope on her.

* * *

When Quinn had finally left to take care of her patient, Rachel had remained alone in the woman's office for at least ten minutes.

Just being in here made her swell with pride for the blonde.

Quinn was a freaking doctor! A pediatrician! It was incredible.

Ever since she could remember she had constantly reminded the blonde that she was good enough to pursue any dream that she set her mind to.

She had always known that Quinn was good enough to get out of Lima and make a name for herself.

She was too brilliant to become a dreaded Lima loser, something that Quinn herself had expected to become.

But Rachel thought otherwise. So she pushed her and pushed her and never stopped believing in her, even when she messed up and got lost along the way.

They were going to make it out, both of them. And she would drag Quinn out of Lima if it came to that.

But then the blonde had gotten her acceptance letter to Yale and she had never been so proud of anyone before in her life.

They had made it. They were leaving.

And now all these years later, Quinn had an amazing career and her own office in a huge hospital.

God, she was about to tear up. How sappy was that?

Despite the string of emotions she had been feeling in the past two days due to the blonde's reappearance, there was no denying how incredibly proud she was of her.

No matter how upset or hurt she might have been.

Quinn had done exactly what she had wanted her to do. She chased her dreams and reached her goals.

At least there was that...

After spending a few minutes brushing her fingers over Quinn's framed diplomas and pictures of her on her graduating day for med school, she returned to Quinn's desk and found a blue post-it note where she then scribbled her phone number with the words 'Second chance' scrawled beside it.

She stared at it for what seemed like an eternity before she took the post-it and stuck it to Quinn's computer, where she would see her.

Second chance.

That had been her decision.

Was it the right one?

She really had no idea. Allowing Quinn back in her life could be the best decision she's ever made. Or it could be the worse.

Quinn could decide that she didn't really love her after all (which would actually kind of crush her), or she would find a way to make up for all those years spent apart and they would get back the friendship she had longed for as a teenager.

Only time would tell.

Taking a deep breath, she smoothed down her dress before walking over to the door, her heels clicking on the shiny linoleum floor.

She wondered if she would visit the office of Doctor Fabray again.

She hoped so.

And as she walked out of the hospital and into a cool breeze that ruffled her dress as she held her hand out for a cab, she couldn't help the small grin that made its way onto her lips.

Because for the first time since her gaze landed on Quinn's hazel orbs the previous night, the tight feeling in her chest had loosened.

Just a bit, but it loosened nonetheless.

Maybe the universe would let them start all over again and this time, they could have a happy ending.

She felt like she deserved at least that much.

* * *

The rest of Quinn's day went by with an endless line of patient charts.

They never seemed to end. Every time she thought she would get a break, she was paged to another room.

Hand, foot and mouth disease.

Whooping cough.

Chickenpox.

Pneumonia.

Measles.

Meningitis.

It didn't end, and Rachel Berry, despite how perfect and amazing she was, was put to the back of her mind for the time being as she practically ran around the pediatrics floor, tending to patient after patient.

Seriously, she was going to put in a request for a scooter sometime soon.

By the time she was actually able to return to her office, it was nearly seven o'clock and she smelled like disinfectant, cough syrup and probably puke.

Which was nothing out of the ordinary for her.

She had been supposed to clock out nearly two hours ago, but they had a larger number of patients than usual and despite the fact that the doctor that was covering the evening shift had came in, she had to stay a bit longer to help out so the kids didn't have to wait longer to get treated.

She didn't mind, really.

But now, she was exhausted. She hadn't really slept well the night before because all that was on her mind was...Rachel!

The brunette suddenly popped back into her mind now that it wasn't full of patient charts and images of crying children.

_"__Call me tonight..." _

That's what Rachel had said, and she had forgotten until now.

Rachel wanted her to call her. What could that possibly mean!?

She didn't need her stethoscope right now to know that her heart was beating a mile a minute. She could already feel her palms sweat as she plopped down into her office chair.

It was then that she saw it and her brows rose in surprise.

A blue post-note with a phone number written on it in perfect Rachel Berry handwriting.

But that wasn't all.

The phone number isn't what made Quinn stop breathing for a total of fourteen seconds.

_Second chance. _

Fuck, her heart was about to burst.

Rachel wasn't going to walk out of her life, she was giving her another chance.

And after a moment of extreme joy, she suddenly became extremely nervous.

Because now that she had that chance, she had to figure out a way to gain Rachel's trust again and make up for practically abandoning her and their growing friendship when they had only started to develop something strong.

How the hell was she supposed to do that?

Exactly seventeen minutes later, Quinn was walking- no, running, up the stairs to her apartment, clutching the little blue post-it note like it held the secret to eternal life as she took the stairs two at a time while rummaging around for her house keys in her purse.

She had Rachel's number!

"I have Rachel Berry's number!",she said louder than what was probably appropriate as she burst through her front door with a face splitting grin and tossed her purse, keys and everything else onto the counter, kicking the door closed behind her.

Kate was doing yoga in the middle of the living room.

Or well, her version of yoga which consisted of lying on a huge inflatable exercise ball while she listened to music and occasionally rolled back and forth.

But now she was sitting up and looking up at the blonde like she had hit her head.

The woman looked at her curiously and narrowed her eyes, taking her ear buds out of her ears.

"Q, are you okay? You look like you just won the fucking lottery.", the redhead asked curiously as she walked over to her, tilting her head curiously.

She hadn't seen the blonde this happy since they had started living together.

Quinn was still grinning like an idiot.

"I got her number!",she squealed loudly, waving the post-it in Kate's face like it was supposed to mean something to her.

The dancer just rose her brows at her and continued to stare at her.

"Whose number?"

Quinn huffed softly at that and rolled her eyes as she took off her white hospital shoes and lab coat, tossing it onto the couch.

"Who do you think!?"

She watched as Kate's eyes widened slightly in realization and she grinned.

"Rachel's? Really? How the hell did you manage that? You didn't like, creepily stalk her or anything, right?"

Quinn scoffed and fought the urge to roll her eyes again as she shook her head.

"No. She came by the hospital today... Long story short, I'm getting a second chance!",she yelled happily, practically bouncing up and down like a moron as she grabbed her phone out of her purse.

It was already 7h30 and Rachel was probably expecting her call.

She didn't want to make her wait any longer.

"Second chance to do what, exactly?", Kate wondered curiously as she returned to her inflatable ball and plopped down onto it, nearly making herself topple over onto her back.

"To make up for walking out on her. ",she said quickly as she practically ran into her room and slammed the door behind her.

There was no time to go into detail. She had to call Rachel and she had to do it now.

Her fingers were practically shaking as she dialed the brunette's number and plopped down on the edge of her bed as she held the phone up to her ear.

She was still wearing the blue scrubs, but there wasn't much time for changing at the moment.

First ring...

Second ring...

Third ring...

Her heart was thudding so loudly that she could almost hear it. Her mouth was drying up and she couldn't stop licking her lips (a nervous habit of hers).

Finally, someone picked up on the end of the line.

"Quinn...? Is that you?",came the soft voice and she couldn't help but beam as she held the phone in a death grip, as if she was afraid that she would drop it.

It had been ages since she heard Rachel's voice over the phone and hearing it now made her think of the times when they had started college and they would call each other at least once a week.

Just to talk and fill each other in on what was happening at their respective colleges.

She used to put Rachel on speaker phone and lay her phone on her chest, closing her eyes as she listened to the brunette's soothing voice while she talked.

Actually, Rachel did most of the talking. She just liked to listen to her.

"Quinn? Are you there?", the voice said again and the blonde quickly snapped out of it and cleared her throat when she realized that she hadn't said anything yet. "I was expecting your call...I knew the unknown number had to be you."

"Yeah, sorry. It's me... I found your note.",she murmured softly as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Second chance? Are you sure, Rach? Because like I said, I get it if you just want to forget that everything happened and we can just go on with our lives without speaking or seeing each other...I wouldn't blame you for wanting that."

"Is that what you want, Quinn? Do you want us to go back to not talking to each other? Because earlier today it sounded like you were ready to do anything in order to be part of my life again."

Quinn heaved a deep sigh and flopped back onto her bed, closing her eyes.

"Of course I want to be a part of your life again. I don't want us to become strangers... I need to fix my mess, Rach. But I also want to make you happy. So I want to do what you want."

There was a pause for a moment and Quinn could hear Rachel's soft breathing on the other line.

"I want to give you a second chance. I want to be able to trust you again. I want to fix this. I want to fix...us." Rachel said quietly.

Quinn's heart was fluttering like crazy and there was a warmth that was spreading over her.

_Us. _

"I would love a second chance. That's all I ask, Rach. Just one and you won't regret it. I swear that I'm going to make it up to you. I'm going to show you that you're not making a mistake by letting me back in.", she promised her.

There was silence again, and this time it lasted a few minutes.

Quinn had an idea in her mind, but she was too nervous to say it. She didn't know what Rachel's answer would be. She didn't even know what she was supposed to do to make things better.

But she would try her best to figure that out.

"Well, um... I guess we'll talk tomorrow then...?", Rachel said after a few minutes. The silence was becoming too awkward.

It wasn't comfortable, like they used to have.

She needed that to change.

"Rachel, wait!", she said quickly as she sat up and swallowed thickly.

"What is it, Quinn?", the singer asked curiously and Quinn could picture the cute way Rachel would raise her brows at her.

Taking a deep breath, the blonde chewed on her bottom lip.

"Do you... Do you remember the place that I took you to, the first time I came up to visit you?", she asked quietly, her voice barely audible.

But Rachel heard her, because she could hear the brunette taking a deep breath.

"Of course I remember. It's one of the best memories I have with you.",she admitted softly. "Why?"

Quinn couldn't help but smile at that and she knew Rachel was smiling at the end of the line as well.

"Can I take you there again? Tomorrow?"

If they were going to fix what had been broken...If she was going to make up to Rachel what had crumbled when she left...

The best solution she could think of was to start over.

From the very beginning.

_New York City; 8 years ago. Quinn Fabray stepped off a train at Grand Central Station. She was visiting Rachel for the first time that day...And she was nervous. _

* * *

xxx

I'm sooo fucking tired.

Any ideas on where Quinn might be taking her to start over? I already have an idea floating around for the next chapter, but it might end with a little cliffhanger...

Please be kind and review. Also, it's super duper late so if there's some errors in this or stuff that doesn't make sense, i'll go over it tomorrow after work.

Did I ever mention that English is not my first language? I wanna put that out there.

Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter! I promise I won't go three weeks without updating this time!

xxx


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer**: All original Glee characters belong to the creators. Everyone else is mine unless stated otherwise.

Hello again, lovelies.

* * *

_8 years ago. _

_Before everything fell apart... _

Ever since she had moved into her dorm room at Yale and settled into college life, there had been one particular question on Rachel's lips every single time they talked on the phone or had one of their occasional Skype calls.

_When are you going to visit? _

She had heard that very phrase at least a hundred times in the weeks following the beginning of her first semester at the Ivy League school. Rachel kept talking about the amazing things that they could do in the city, and each time they talked, the brunette had a different set of activities planned out for them for when the blonde would finally take the train up to the Big Apple.

It's not that Quinn didn't want to visit, because she did. Ever since they had begun a tentative friendship at the end of senior year after all the drama of the years prior, all she wanted to do was strengthen the bond between her and Rachel so their friendship could develop into something concrete.

After all, she had been the one to buy the Metro passes because she had wanted them to keep in touch. They had spent the better part of their high school years fighting over petty things like boys, only to finally become friends towards the end of their last year.

She wasn't about to let that go to waste, not after the promises they had made to each other in the bathroom before graduation.

So yes, she wanted to visit Rachel. She really did.

But college was infinitely more fast paced than high school and the blonde found herself to be incredibly busy, spending her evenings pouring over notes and heavy textbooks.

Although she managed to still find time to call Rachel once in a while, and the brunette finally convinced her to use those train tickets and come up for a weekend when her course load had diminished slightly and she could afford two days off from doing homework without the risk of falling behind in her studies.

Which is why she now found herself stepping off of a crowded train at Grand Central Station, a small duffel bag slung over her shoulder as she stood on the platform, wearing a simple navy dress with stockings because summer had slipped into fall and it was getting chillier outside as the days went on. She was wearing a matching cardigan and kept picking at the buttons as she looked around the bustling station for the familiar face she had been longing to see for weeks now.

The tiny brunette who loved to serenade her over Skype and text her a million times a day to make sure she was eating well and getting enough sleep.

Honestly she was touched by how much Rachel seemed to care about her.

The brunette had always cared, really. But this was the first time that she was actually letting her. It felt nice.

She had just started walking towards a bench, where she could see that there was a free spot between an elderly lady and a young business man, she just had to get there before someone else in the busy train station snatched it up. But before she could get there, she felt something small and warm running into her back with an excited squeal, and just as tanned arms wrapped themselves around her waist to hug her tightly, the smell of familiar perfume hit her nostrils and her lips curved into a wide smile.

_Rachel. _

"You found me...", the blonde said softly before turning around to be met with the sight of a beaming Rachel Berry, who was holding the most adorable little cardboard sign with her name on it in beautiful flowing letters and...glitter?

She did her famous brow arch upon seeing the sign and couldn't help but snort quietly in amusement. "Really, Rach? A sign?",she asked with a small smirk.

The brunette's cheeks turned a nice red color as Rachel ducked her head and bit her lip shyly with a shrug, looking down at her handmade sign.

"Too much? I've always wanted to do that. Like in the movies.",she said softly with a timid smile as she looked up at Quinn through her lashes and the blonde swore she swooned a little.

_Wait, what? _

Clearing her throat, she shook off that feeling and gave the small girl a gentle smile.

"It's perfect, Rachel. Thank you...And thank you for meeting me here. It's so crowded, I think I would have gotten lost. I'm surprised you were even able to see me over all these tall people.", she said with a teasing smile as they moved out of the way of camera bearing tourists snapping pictures of everything in sight.

She couldn't help but chuckle as the brunette narrowed her eyes at her and huffed softly with an eyeroll that was so Rachel Berry that for a moment, she thought she was back in the halls of McKinley before one of the diva's infamous rants.

"That's an incredibly rude thing to say to someone who's giving you a place to stay for the weekend. Maybe I should make you sleep on the floor.",she said with a raised brow as she crossed her arms over her chest. Another Rachel move.

But Quinn only grinned at her and shook her head in amusement, gently putting a hand on Rachel's crossed arms to pry them apart. "Rach, come on. You know I was just kidding. You're not_ that_ tiny. Besides, I can't sleep on the floor because of my back. I'd have to go see a physiotherapist all over again.",she muttered as she adjusted the bag slung over her shoulder.

She winced when she saw the color momentarily drain from the brunette's face as her eyes widened in horror. Rachel knew she had done a lot of physiotherapy after her accident, for which the girl still occasionally blamed herself despite how many times Quinn told her it was her own fault for texting while driving and accidentally running a stop sign.

Sighing heavily, she looped an arm through Rachel's and gently began to tug her towards what she assumed was the exit. "Don't make that face. I'm fine. You know that.",she said with a reassuring smile as they walked.

Rachel frowned slightly but decided not to say anything on the subject. She just turned them around to walk in the opposite direction, shrugging when Quinn looked at her quizzically.

"You were going the wrong way.",she said simply as Quinn blushed.

She really had no idea where she was going.

* * *

Twenty minutes and one cab ride later, Quinn was dropping her bag on the floor of Rachel's loft apartment, yawning tiredly.

She was exhausted from getting up early to hand in some assignments and do some last minute homework, and then getting on the train to New York, where she couldn't nap because of all the noise and chattering.

And the crowded streets of Manhattan tired her out. The city wasn't like New Haven. It was loud and lively and full of tourists, unlike the cozy, quaint college town she was now used to.

To be honest, she kind of just wanted to change into some sweatpants and relax for the rest of the day, but she knew very well that she couldn't do that.

Rachel had spent weeks trying to make her visit and she was only here for two days. She wasn't about to spend one of them napping and staying in when there was a whole new world to see outside.

And there was no way that Rachel would let her stay in. She'd probably drag her out of the loft if she had to.

Luckily, Rachel was prepared for a tired Quinn and knew just how to pep her right back up.

"Sit down and make yourself at home. I'll make you some coffee.",the brunette said cheerfully before disappearing to the kitchen.

Or well, kitchen area.

The loft was pretty much one big open space, with dividers here and there and the only real room being the bathroom (thank god).

There was a slightly worn but comfy looking couch in the living room, which Quinn happily plopped down onto with a soft sigh as she leaned against it and stretched slightly.

Even though she had completely recovered from her aforementioned accident, her muscles still ached from time to time and it felt nice to sit down.

A few minutes later, Rachel walked into the living room with a steaming mug and Quinn inhaled the strong scent of coffee with a delightful smile as she reached out for it.

"Here you go, dear.", Rachel said in a playful tone and Quinn felt herself blush faintly as she took a small sip and hummed in content.

"Hazelnut...My favorite. How did you know?",she asked curiously as she licked her lips, putting the mug down on the small coffee table.

Rachel just smiled at her and shrugged lightly, leaning back against the arm of the couch, facing Quinn. "Those few times when you actually talk instead of just listening to me on the phone or Skype, you mention things from time to time and I remember. You said that you started drinking hazelnut flavored coffee because the cafe next to your dorm served it and it became your favorite."

Quinn raised her brows in surprise at the fact that Rachel had actually remembered something so trivial that she had probably mentioned in passing weeks ago without much thought.

No one else would have remembered a small detail like her favorite coffee. But of course, Rachel did.

And not for the first time, she felt a small fluttering in her chest.

But she tried to ignore it, swallowing thickly as she gave the brunette a small smile before changing the subject.

"So where's Kurt?",she asked as she glanced around the loft once again. She had forgotten about the brunette's roommate until now, but hadn't seen him since they had arrived, so she figured that he wasn't there, because obviously he would have come out and greeted her already if he was.

Rachel didn't seem fazed by the change in subject and smiled as she smoothed out the hem of her dark skirt. "He went back to Lima for the weekend, actually. He wanted to visit his dad and Carole. So...It's just us two for the weekend.", she added quietly, looking up at her through those dark lashes again with a shy smile. "Is that okay?"

Quinn felt her lips go dry and briefly licked them before clearing her throat and smiling softly with a slight nod as she reached for her mug of coffee again to lubricate her equally dry throat. "Yeah, yeah...Of course it's okay. I mean, I kind of came here for you, so...",she shrugged.

She watched Rachel out of the corner of her eye as the girl rose both of her brows at her words, a timid smile forming on those pouty lips of hers. "You...came here for me? Really?",the brunette asked in a quiet tone as she gnawed on her bottom lip, observing Quinn intently.

Quinn on the other hand, simply quirked a brow at her and tilted her head slightly at the question. She thought it was obvious. She had come up because Rachel had wanted her to. Yeah, Kurt was her friend but she didn't mind one bit that he wasn't here. She was here to see Rachel so they could strengthen their budding friendship and start what would hopefully be a string of visits.

Hopefully being the key word, since she was so unbelievably busy.

"Of course I came here for you, Rachel...I meant what I said when I bought us those Metro passes. I want us to keep in touch. We only truly became friends at the end of senior year and then we both had to move away for school, but I don't want to lose what we started. You're an amazing person and a great friend. You've always been there for me no matter what, even when I was a complete ass. So when we actually became friends, I promised myself that I wouldn't let that go to waste just because we live in different cities. This friendship means a lot to me, and...so do you.",she admitted with a soft smile.

For a while, Rachel didn't say anything, but her cheeks were bright red. They stared at each other intently, chocolate orbs gazing into golden pools.

There was so much warmth in Rachel's eyes and she tried to ignore that stupid fluttering in her chest that kept showing up every now and then.

She ignored it because it had been happening more and more lately and she didn't know what it meant.

And honestly, she was scared to find out what it meant too.

So she pretended that the fluttering wasn't there and eventually broke Rachel's stare to keep sipping on her coffee before it got cold.

"You mean a lot to me too, Quinn. I'm happy that you're finally giving this friendship a chance...", Rachel said a few seconds later, putting a hand on Quinn's knee and squeezing it gently before pulling it away.

But Quinn felt the touch linger for moments after as she inhaled sharply before flashing the girl a soft, gentle smile. A smile she couldn't help but have around Rachel and her calming presence.

"We're going somewhere tonight.", the blonde said simply before she stood up and walked over to her duffel bag that was still at the door, leaving Rachel to look at her curiously from her spot on the couch.

"We are...?",Rachel asked with a raised eyebrow, watching the girl intently. "Wait, where are we going exactly? Because I was kind of hoping that I could take you on a tour of the city. There are so many things that we can do, Quinn! So many things you have to see. I found this cafe that you'd love on 35th and-..."

Quinn turned around with a small smile, holding her hand up to effectively cut her off, chuckling as Rachel's rambling died down with a small pout.

"We can do all of those things tomorrow, I promise. You can show me around the city, and take me to all these places you think I'd like. We can even do all the cliché touristy things if you want. We can do all of that. But tonight, I want you to get all dressed up because I'm taking you somewhere. Think of it as an early birthday present.", the blonde said with a playful grin as she lifted up her bag.

Rachel stared at her, slightly surprised before she narrowed her eyes. "Quinn, my birthday is in December."

But Quinn simply smirked and flashed her a playful wink. "Precisely why it's called an _early_ birthday present, princess. Now go get ready. You have two hours!",she said before she disappeared into Kurt's vacant room so she could get ready there and give Rachel her privacy.

Sure, she had seen undressed girls before because she was on the Cheerios and witnessed girls walking around naked all the time. But this was different. This was Rachel... And they were alone.

As she closed the curtain to Kurt's room, she left Rachel still sitting on the couch, blushing at the fact that Quinn had called her princess and incredibly intrigued as to where on Earth they were going.

* * *

Two hours later, Quinn could hear Rachel softly singing to herself in the bathroom while she sat on the couch reading a book she had brought along.

An actual book, not a textbook. She had promised herself not to do any homework that weekend.

She had finished getting ready almost twenty minutes ago and was now sitting there wearing a form fitting green dress that stopped mid thigh with some tasteful flats, her now shoulder length hair brushed and neatly pinned to the side. Nothing too fancy, but yet just fancy enough for where they were going.

It was an idea that she had come up with a few days before she was meant to come and visit Rachel. She knew that the brunette probably had a ton of things planned for them, but she wanted to do something special for her on her first night there, despite the fact that she was the guest.

Rachel deserved it, after everything she had done for her over the years. It was Quinn's way of saying thank you because she hadn't exactly said it when they were in high school. Or said it enough.

She just hoped that Rachel would like what she had planned for them. She was incredibly nervous. It almost felt like she was getting ready for a date...

That thought alone was enough to make a knot form in the pit of her stomach, but all her thoughts went flying out the window as she heard the bathroom door open and looked up, inhaling sharply at the sight she was greeted with.

Rachel.

Rachel wearing a curve hugging black dress with matching heels, her hair down in loose curls.

_God damn... _

"Is this what you meant by getting all dressed up?", the brunette asked with a shy smile as she tucked some hair behind her ear, shuffling on the spot as she smoothed down the front of her dress. She was blushing.

But Quinn didn't even remember how to formulate words let alone speak, because she was still staring at the beautiful goddess that had just emerged from the bathroom.

Wait...What was she saying? Goddess?

Gulping lightly, she swallowed hard and took a deep breath as she stood up, smoothing down her own dress. "Y-Yeah...That's exactly what I meant. You look great, Rachel...Beautiful.",she murmured honestly as she grabbed her purse, trying to calm the feeling in her stomach as she slowly walked to the door.

But Rachel was frozen in her spot, simply staring at her. So Quinn stopped and looked at her over her shoulder, quirking an eyebrow at her. "What?",she asked curiously. "Is there something on my face?",she chuckled lowly.

"You called me beautiful...", Rachel said slowly in awe.

Quinn felt her own cheeks turn pink as she rubbed the back of her neck and shrugged casually, opening the door and gesturing for Rachel to follow her.

"I'm just being honest, Rach...Come on, we don't want to be late."

"Where are we going?", Rachel asked as she grabbed her own purse in case she would need it and followed the blonde out of the loft, making sure to lock the door behind her.

Quinn didn't answer that. She simply grinned at her as they stepped into the elevator and headed for the ground floor.

"Out.",she said simply.

Quinn didn't answer any more of Rachel's questions regarding where they were going as they hailed a cab and slipped in. Quinn told the driver the address and smiled at the fact that Rachel couldn't recognize it by the address alone.

She didn't think that the brunette had ever been there, anyway. But she knew that she would love it. It was one of the most beautiful places in the city, in her opinion. Even if she hadn't been there herself.

When they arrived, Quinn quickly paid the driver and wished him a good night before she stepped out of the cab to open the door for Rachel, helping her out by gently taking her hand, which she released after the brunette had both feet planted on the ground.

Then she stepped back and watched as the brunette looked up and raised her brows, surprised at where they were.

It wasn't what she had been expecting, not at all.

_New York Botanical Garden. _

"The Botanical Garden?", Rachel asked curiously as she looked over at Quinn, who simply grinned at her and began leading her up the pathway to the entrance.

"Yep. The Botanical Garden.", she nodded, her smile never wavering as she took out a pair of tickets from her purse. She had been able to order them online and print them out after hearing about the event that would be happening that night.

Rachel kept staring at the blonde, waiting for an explanation as to why they were here. She glanced at the tickets in Quinn's hand, but couldn't see what was written on them because the blonde had them flipped over.

"Aren't we a bit over dressed to be here?", Rachel asked as they reached the entrance, looking down at her dress self-consciously.

But Quinn shook her head at her, smiling even wider as she opened the door for her. "Not at all..."

The Botanical Garden was hosting a concert inside, and when Quinn had read about it online, she knew it was the perfect place to bring Rachel to. Again, she wanted to do something special for her and she had a feeling that this would be just the thing. Music was one of Rachel's passions.

As she lead the girl inside, she handed her one of the tickets and watched intently as Rachel read the front of it before her eyes lit up in surprise. "A concert?", she asked softly with a grin as she looked around. There was a stage and beautiful lights were strewn up. And there were people all around them, chatting and waiting for the music to start, wearing clothes just as semi-formal as theirs.

Quinn was relieved at Rachel's smile and nodded slightly as she gently put a hand on Rachel's back and lead her forward so they could hand their tickets to an attendant, who handed them a small leaflet on the group that was performing as well as what pieces they were going to play. "I wanted us to tour the garden, but it's much warmer in here.",she chuckled lowly, smiling down at her. "And I think you're going to like this...",she said even though she was chewing her bottom lip nervously.

The group that was performing wasn't your traditional American band or jazz group.

"I know you told me that you've always wanted to visit Italy because your grandparents are from there and you have family over there.", Quinn murmured softly, earning her a brow raise from Rachel as the girl wondered where she was going with this. "And you said that you remembered when you were a kid and sitting on your grandfather's knee before her passed away, listening to the records he had brought with him from Italy..."

"Quinn, where are you going with this exactly?", Rachel asked with a curious smile as they walked closer to the stage area, where people were beginning to assemble.

Quinn grinned at her just as the lights dimmed and the people around them clapped lightly. "Would you believe me if I said that I found an Italian music group? It's part of the Garden's international music event...These guys play classical and jazz. Just like your grandfather listened to.", she said softly, waiting to see Rachel's reaction.

But the brunette seemed to be stunned because she was just staring at her with wide eyes, her mouth opening and closing a few times. The music was starting, and it was beautiful. But Rachel was still staring at her, those deep brown eyes full of joy and...something else she couldn't quite pinpoint.

"Quinn,I...I can't believe you would do something like that for me. I can't even believe that you remembered me saying that...I didn't think you were listening. We were on Skype and I was rambling while you were doing your homework...", Rachel said softly, still completely amazed that the blonde had done this for her.

Reaching down between them, Quinn gently squeezed Rachel's hand and lingered for a moment before she let go, smiling sweetly at her as she directed her attention to the band. "I listen to every single thing you tell me, Rach. And I remember all of it.",she murmured softly.

Her words were mostly drowned out by the sound of the music, but that was perfectly fine because the wide smile on Rachel's lips and the nostalgic look in her eyes as she happily swayed along to the rhythm of the music told her that she had made the right choice in bringing her here.

This was special enough. And she was proud of herself for being the one to put that smile on Rachel's face.

The first few songs passed and Quinn simply stood back slightly and watched as Rachel was mesmerized, watching the group play.

She didn't understand a thing, but she knew that Rachel understood some of it, judging by the grin on her face at some of the lyrics.

It was a few more minutes before Rachel looked back at her and Quinn was surprised to find that the brunette's eyes were filled with tears. She immediately took a step closer and frowned in concern, thinking that something was wrong. "What is it? What's wrong, Rach? Do you want to go?",she asked worriedly as she tried to think about what would have her upset.

But Rachel just shook her head and gave her a wide, teary smile before pulling her into a tight embrace, resting her chin on her shoulder. "Nothing's wrong, Quinn. This is perfect, I...It's the nicest thing that anyone's ever done for me. Thank you so much. Just being here...It reminds me of my grandfather and being with him. I feel like a little girl again. It's amazing. Thank you.",she repeated softly before pulling back and kissing her cheek tenderly as a thank you.

This time Quinn couldn't ignore the fluttering in her chest no matter how hard she tried. She felt her cheeks turn red and could still feel Rachel's lips on her skin as she smiled shyly, glad that Rachel's attention was once again focused on the Italian music group so she wouldn't see that she was blushing like an idiot.

And freaking out internally.

She had never blushed so much around Rachel before,and her heart had never done that rapid fluttery thing.

_What does this mean?_

It scared the crap out of her and made her palms sweat and her pulse quicken, but the delighted smile on Rachel's face made her push those terrifying feelings aside because after all the crap she had done in high school, and then the time she had put in trying to build a friendship with Rachel, she had finally been able to give her something special and put a big smile on her face.

Fluttering be damned, she would deal with that later.

For now, she would just stand back and watch as Rachel swayed and hummed along to the soft, joyful music in a language that she didn't understand but found beautiful nonetheless.

She vowed then and there that she wanted to make Rachel smile like that again.

She also wanted to take Rachel back to the garden someday, so they could see the beautiful outside and she could watch Rachel stroll among the gorgeous flowers and plants.

* * *

_Present day._

_Putting the pieces back together..._

Quinn was nervous.

Actually, nervous was an understatement. She was freaking out.

The previous night while they were speaking on the phone after Rachel had agreed to give her a second chance and allow her back into her life, Quinn had asked her if she could take her to the place where it had all started. Their first ever outing together when Quinn had visited her for the first time all those years ago.

And to her surprise, Rachel had said yes.

Which is why Quinn was currently standing in front of Rachel's apartment door, practically hyperventilating.

She had successfully gotten someone to cover the rest of her shift at the hospital, with a promise that she would do extra overtime for a month if she had to, and was now standing outside in the hall wearing a blue dress instead of blue scrubs and was anxiously picking at her cuticles as she waited for Rachel to answer the door.

This was her shot at being Rachel's friend again, and she sure as hell wasn't going to screw it up this time. This was her one and only chance, and she wanted to make that night as special as the first time.

A few moments after she had knocked,the door opened and Quinn braced herself as she slowly looked up.

Her reaction was pretty much the same as it was that time Rachel had come out of the bathroom in her loft, looking like some kind of goddess.

Again, Quinn couldn't formulate words.

She just stared, her mouth hanging open slightly.

Rachel was wearing a gorgeous red dress, and Quinn felt her knees weaken as her gaze traveled down to those mile long legs and she gulped lightly.

"Quinn?", Rachel asked quietly, making the blonde snap her gaze up as she blushed bright red and smiled shyly.

"H-Hi, um...Wow, you look...You look...",she fumbled with her words, frowning at herself.

"You look beautiful too, Quinn.", the brunette murmured, closing the door behind her as they headed downstairs and outside to catch a cab.

Quinn always knew she'd be taking Rachel back to the Botanical Garden some day.

She just didn't think that someday would be a couple years short of a decade later.

Second chances...They were a beautiful thing.

* * *

xxx

So this chapter was from Quinn's POV, the next chapter is going to be from Rachel's POV.

My original idea for the first place they went together was going to be like a Broadway show, but that would have been so cliché...

Please be kind and review!

And stay tuned!

xxx


	10. UPDATING?

Hi guys! I know it's been forever... but I've been super busy over the summer, and recently class has been taking up a lot of my time. But I was thinking about updating this story as well as Strawberry Shampoo and Paradise City over the next couple of weeks. I just want to know if anyone was interested in me continuing this story. Please send me a comment letting me know if I should continue or not.

Best wishes.

-M


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